Lord of Light and Darkness
by Light Lord Cybergate
Summary: A time travel story with a few twists. Harry meets a fortuneteller, changes the past, A 'Dragon' will rise and with it a surprise...He faces Voldemort and not just once, and all that with two, not one prophecy on his shoulder. More summary inside!
1. The Fortune Teller

_**Harry Potter**_

_** Lord of light and Darkness**_

**Book 1 **

** Life's a Prophecy**

Chapter1

The Fortune Teller

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe.**

**Chapter Beta'd by:** Raisinous Fiendling and RPMcMurphy from 'perfectimagination' Beta readers

**S****tory Information: **A good and evil, super Harry time travel story with a few twists. Harry meets a fortune-teller who completely changes his life over night to become Heavens chosen champion of the light. But all is not as it seems to be.

Now cursed by two prophesies instead of just one, a Dragon will rise and with it an evil surprise. Can Harry survive life's ever-increasing demands while he faces Voldemort again and again…or is this the beginning of an even greater evil… himself?

**Rated:** Mature

**Pairings:** H/G, J/L, R,Hr

**Time Lines: **Summer after 6th year, Marauders period, Seventh year, Post Hogwarts Era.

**Warnings: **Severe Violence, Sexual Situations, Coarse language, Suicide, Story characters may be out of character, Severe character death.**  
**

**Book1: **Life's a Prophecy

**Book2:** The Darkest Lord

* * *

Harry Potter, famous Boy Who Lived and saviour of the wizarding world, was waiting patiently for his two best friends to depart from the Hogwarts Express.

He wasn't really in a hurry. The train would be staying at the station for the next hour anyway.

Not that he would have cared, as he had already removed his entire luggage from the train as well as the luggage of his friends.

No, the main reason why he wasn't in a hurry was not because of the train or his luggage, or anybody else's luggage for that matter, but because he was more than willing to let his friends have some 'prime time' together, alone.

Ever since Dumbledore's funeral, his two friends seemed to have become rather close.

In fact, although they, especially Hermione, would never admit it, he had accidentally seen them snogging in the boys' toilet compartment of the train, of all places.

After taking extreme care to slip past them undetected, Harry had decided to take their luggage off the train. He was sure that they would forget about it.

Well, Hermione probably wouldn't, but Ron would be a different case altogether.

Sure enough, just five minutes before the Express was due to leave, the two came out of the train, though their appearances were a little different from what he had expected.

Ron was rather red in the face and was arguing with a rather irritated Hermione.

"Honestly, Ronald, I'm sure Harry took our luggage off the train for us, you'll see." He could hear the reassuring voice of his best female friend saying to a worried looking Ron.

"Oh, I'm not sure, I bet I left it on the station platform in Hogsmeade," Ron answered.

"Come on, Ron, even you can't be that bad. Besides, my luggage wasn't there either, surely you aren't suggesting that I would leave my…"

"Hello, lads and lasses," Harry said, deciding to step into the conversation before the situation could get out of control.

"I took the liberty of removing your belongings from the train," he added, wondering if it had been a mistake to do so.

If looks could kill, Ron would probably have had to bury his best friend that evening, and then spend the rest of his life hiding from a furious Mrs. Weasley and an equally, if not more, furious Ginny.

As it was, all Harry received was an annoyed stare from Ron, who in turn received a victorious 'told you so' from his girlfriend, for Hermione's reaction was quite the opposite. She thanked Harry for being so thoughtful and reprimanded Ron for his sour act, calling him a git and warning him that she would tell Mrs. Weasley about his behaviour if it didn't improve immediately.

Ron quickly put on an amiable face and so the trio took their luggage and started to make their way towards the platform exit.

Just as they walked through the barrier into the Muggle half of King's Cross Station, they saw a weird looking woman sitting behind a stall talking to a few Muggles.

Harry stared.

The woman wore multiple earrings, more than half of which extended from her head all the way down her side, and her hair looked like a mass of multicoloured vines which extended out from under a thick pink turban.

Harry also noticed that she wore multicoloured glasses which seemed to shrink one of her eyes to half its original size, while the other was left alone. This made Harry's eyes water slightly when he looked at them.

Amazing what some people will wear to earn a living, he thought to himself.

Interested in what such a weird looking woman could be doing, and because Harry wasn't really in a hurry to introduce his friends to his only living relatives, who they all knew hated magic and everything and everybody tied to the art, Harry led his friends over to have a look.

It didn't take long to realise that the strange woman was a fortune teller, or at least that was what she called herself.

Interested in what she was doing, Ron started to edge forward.

"Come on, Ron, we shouldn't keep Harry's relatives waiting; besides, everybody knows that fortune tellers are all frauds anyway," Hermione said as she realised what Ron had in mind.

"And why would that be?" Ron asked, his face reddening again.

"Oh, let him have a go, it's only a bit of fun," Harry said quickly, frantically trying to divert another argument.

"Seriously, Harry, we don't have time for that fake," Hermione huffed.

"Look, just because you never were any good at Divination, doesn't mean we can't have a look at…"

"Okay, Ron! All right, all right, go on, enjoy yourself. But don't come running to me when she tells you that you are going to die," Hermione said, cutting him off, putting her hand up in resignation.

She hated it when somebody reminded her of the only subject in which she wasn't any good, the only subject she had ever failed.

Though that was probably because she had left it halfway through the year, much to the enjoyment of the others in the class, who were happy to see that there was at least one subject which 'little miss perfect know-it-all' didn't, in fact, know at all.

Patiently, they waited for the woman to finish with the Muggles. Two men, one of whom was laughing hysterically at the look of bewilderment on his friend's face, were just leaving.

Smiling mysteriously, the woman beckoned for the next in line to come forward.

"She's already giving me the creeps," Ron said to Harry as they started to walk forward, eliciting a small smile from Harry.

Hermione just gave a small sigh but looked away when Ron turned his head. It was clear she wouldn't win anyway.

Silently, they all took a seat in front of the woman.

"Welcome, welcome, I am Sylvia Fortuna, and I am ninety nine percent sure I can tell you your fortunes if you wish; for a small price, that is," the woman said in a mysterious voice, which earned a small laugh from Hermione.

Sylvia ignored it, but Ron turned to Hermione.

"Listen, if you can't take this, then you don't have to," he hissed in an angry voice.

Before Ron could say any more, though, the woman held up her hand, effectively silencing him.

"It's okay," she said. "Very few take me seriously; I am used to it," she continued. "In fact, I like it that way. It's always very enjoyable to see the customers' faces, no matter what they believe. It comes with the job. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Besides, I love to prove them wrong," she added with a small wink, which made Hermione scowl dangerously.

"Now, who would like to go first?" she asked.

Giving Hermione one last warning look, Ron motioned that he would like to start.

"All right, what's your name, young lad?" she asked pleasantly.

"Ronald Weasley," Ron answered enthusiastically.

"Ronald Weasley," the woman echoed. "Ah yes, the son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, born on the first of March and older brother to the cute little famous redhead called Ginny, how interesting," she said.

"How do you know my parents? ...How do you know Ginny? How is she famous? ...How do you know when my birthday is?" Ron interrupted, extremely surprised and highly unnerved by how much the woman knew about him.

"Please, it's my job to know these things. Who knows, for a small fee I might even explain how I know," the woman answered mischievously. "Now, what would you like me to do…Would you like me to tell you your future? Would you like to use tarot cards or the crystal ball perhaps? Or what about a touch of soul gazing?" she asked with a wink.

"I think I'll try the crystal ball," Ron said after thinking for a while.

"You do, do you? And how do you expect to pay for the service?" the woman asked sternly. "I don't think one Sickle and three Knuts are enough. The ball's illuminations cost a minimum of two Sickles," she added after seeing the confused look on Ron's face.

"How did you…?" Ron asked for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that day, ignoring the slight snicker coming from the girl beside him.

Ron never realised that he was already holding all the money he had in his hands.

"I told you, it's my business to know," the woman answered simply.

"I'll pay for you," Harry said, seeing Ron's downtrodden face.

He knew how Ron hated to be poor, and he, Harry, had more money than he could hope to spend.

"No you won't," said Ron angrily.

Too bad he's too proud to take anything which could look like charity, Harry thought to himself dismally.

Hearing Harry speak, the woman turned to face him.

"Now, who could you be?" she started to say. "Black untidy hair, green eyes, glasses, scar…SCAR… Hang on, you're Harry Potter!" she exclaimed, which caused a few people who were passing to look at them with mild interest.

Harry cringed slightly at her loud voice. The last thing he needed right now was a mob of Daily Prophet reporters, or any other reporters for that matter, swarming around him, asking him more of their stupid questions.

"Well well well, I never would have thought… I'd love to tell you your fortune, Mr. Potter," she said, in a manner which suggested that she really didn't want to take no as an answer.

Harry, realizing the turn the situation was taking, quickly decided to get away as soon as possible.

"Sorry, Ma'am, I really can't. My uncle and aunt…they're waiting. I really don't want to keep them waiting for long. Maybe next time," Harry said, looking for a way to escape.

"I'd be happy to tell all three of you your fortunes... for free," the woman said in a last attempt to persuade her reluctant customer. It was clear that she really liked the idea of telling the fortune of the famous Harry Potter.

But Harry wasn't about to stop. Standing up, he quickly started to move away, with an amused Ron and a glaring Hermione trailing behind, when the woman suddenly grabbed him from behind.

Harry, completely out of reflex, grabbed the hand which was clutching his shoulder and twisted it upwards and over with a jerk as he had learnt from Moody over the last summer.

A second later, he was free and the woman was clutching her wrist in pain.

Hermione and Ron already had their hands on their wands, ready to draw them at a second's notice.

Seeing that she wouldn't try anything, or rather that she wasn't able to do anything, Harry turned around again, and started to walk away, ignoring the woman's pleas.

Hermione and Ron took one last look at the woman and followed.

They were about to walk through the automated Muggle ticket collection stands when they stopped dead in their tracks, for the woman's voice had changed.

At first she gasped and it sounded like she was going to suffocate.

Then, just as she started to flush a slight red colour from apparent lack of air, she started to chant. Her voice took on a slightly hoarse misty sing-song tone which went up and down with a ghostly rhythm.

Turning around again, the trio listened to what she said.

**_On the eve of the morn,  
The darkness shall come to play.  
Led by a creature with a name not spoken,  
Fifteen dark flames shall fight until broken._**

**_Light shall lose and slay his pray,  
On light's blood fortress the clay shall spray._**

**_Darkness shall become day,  
As the light shall make its way.  
From ashes to ashes as we say,  
But maybe not this day._**

**_For the past makes the present,  
and the present foresees the past.  
As the past becomes the present,  
And the present makes way for the past._**

**_The light shall become one with the former  
And the former will make way for the maker  
The maker shall alter the way of blood and past  
The former, to fall to shadow  
The maker, to be recast._**

**_On the night of a prophecy's birth retold,  
My past might conquer darkness as foretold,  
Soon, evil shall prevail and have his way.  
Darkness's chieftain, to be born, to claim the day._**

**_The light shall fall, but remain at bay,  
In its own prison it shall stay.  
The world shall descend into complete disarray._**

**_Unable to fight, but able to aid,  
To hinder the darkness, before all is too late._**

**_The twin's the key; the hand's the lock,  
To release the light, the other must not be forgot._**

**_Find the darkness, find the brother,  
The lock must find the door without the other.  
There is no other way to recover.  
The key must use the lock to unlock the other._**

Harry stared at the woman in shock, while Ron looked scared.

Hermione, on the other hand, was rolling her eyes. She obviously thought that this was all a joke.

Harry, however, had learned from experience not to treat anything like this as a joke.

On the contrary, he had after all had a similar experience in his third year with another woman who was in fact a real Seer. A really bad one, perhaps, but still a Seer. It was this Seer who had made the prophecy which had literally ruined his life for the past sixteen years. It was this Seer who had made the prophecy which concerned him and the evil Lord Voldemort. So Harry was not going to ignore this, no matter how much he would have wanted to.

Shaken from what he had heard, Harry started to walk away again, while the crowd that had gathered around during the prophecy's delivery started to cheer.

They obviously thought it was part of the act.

* * *

A few minutes later the trio resumed their search for Harry's Muggle magic-hating relatives.

"Okay, mates, try to be nice, for all the good it will do. While I don't expect them to accept, I would prefer to try this the civilised way first," Harry said after a while as he spotted his uncle and aunt waiting impatiently near the entrance of the station.

"Ok, but if they don't…" Ron trailed off.

"Then we try to persuade them…in a civilised manner," Harry said, adding the civilised part quickly.

"Ok," Ron said again.

"Agreed," said Hermione.

"But after that fails we have some fun," Ron added, a small grin appearing over his face.

"RON!" Hermione said in what she hoped was a stern voice, though it was clear she was thinking similarly.

"Yes, then we have some fun, or rather you and Hermione will, as I am not allowed to use magic yet, being underage," Harry said quietly, then smiled as he saw the eager look on his best friend's face.

Vernon Dursley, Harry's fanatically anti-magic uncle, was the first to notice the trio as they came towards him.

"What are they doing here?" he asked in a voice which clearly demonstrated that he didn't want Harry's friends anywhere near him.

Deciding to be as polite as he could manage at that moment, Harry looked straight into his hated uncle's eyes.

"Would it be all right if my two friends stayed with me for the next two weeks?" Harry said quickly.

"WHAT?!" his uncle said loudly.

"Would it be ok, if my friends stayed with me for…"

"No," Vernon said dangerously.

"Not even if…."

"I will not have any more freaks like you in my house…I…" Vernon started to say, his face becoming a scarlet red.

"Silencio," Ron said, and a second later Vernon was quiet.

Ignoring the look of sheer rage on Vernon's face, Ron, deciding to skip the 'civilised part', stepped up and looked right into his face.

"Ok, now you listen to me. It's clear that you are not going to allow us to stay. I expected as much, quite happily too, I may add, but frankly, I don't really give a Blast-Ended Skrewt's ass," he said.

"So, listen to me, and listen to me well, as I will only say this once…" Ron continued, as if nothing had happened.

At that direct moment Vernon made a sudden movement to grab Ron, but Hermione pointed her wand at Vernon and quickly said, "Congelo," causing Vernon to freeze on the spot.

Harry took a moment to look around but luckily nobody seemed to notice anything.

A moment later his attention was back on the drama in front of him.

Acting as if nothing had happened, Ron continued to speak. "Either you do as we say, in which case we should be able to get along perfectly, or…"

"Or!" Hermione said, cutting him off, raising her voice at the 'or'.

"…Or I will transform all of you into worms, and feed you to the birds. Is that clear?" she finished fiercely.

"Er.. right…or that," said Ron, impressed, grinning at her suggestion.

Realising that Vernon was unable to answer, Hermione removed the Freezing Charm.

The change in Harry's uncle was instantaneous.

One moment he was very angry, and ready to tear Ron apart, the next he was very white, and doing his best to step away.

"Is that clear?" Hermione and Ron asked again in unison, their voices frighteningly calm, leaving no room for a second chance.

Vernon tried to speak, but couldn't.

"Oh right…Finite Incantatem," said Hermione as she realised that his voice was still missing.

"Now hold on one…." Vernon started to say.

"Is that clear?" Hermione repeated, raising her voice slightly, just stopping Ron from blasting Vernon with a curse.

"Yes," was all Vernon could say meekly.

Petunia, however, was not ready to give up just yet.

"Now wait there just a few seconds…" she started to say, trying to take command before Ron pointed his wand at her, after which she stepped back a few steps.

"Yes?" Hermione said sweetly.

"Please…it isn't possible…we don't have enough rooms," she said, looking really frightened yet adamant.

"That's okay, they brought sleeping bags with them," Harry said, kindly stepping into the conversation again.

"I will not be feeding you freaks any…" Vernon said loudly, finding his voice again.

"Eximo Oratio," Hermione said, and Vernon was quiet once more.

Harry looked around again, expecting to see a few curious spectators, but as before, nobody seemed to have taken any interest in their little group.

Strange, he thought, as he turned his attention back again to the conversation; then it dawned on him. Of course, the Notice-Me-Not Charm, I should have known, he scolded himself, his worries removed.

"Don't worry about food. We will supply everything we need ourselves," he heard Hermione say to his aunt.

"You will share one room between the three of you?" said Petunia.

"Yes," Hermione answered after pausing for a second much to Ron's evident delight.

"You will provide your own food?"

"Yes," Hermione said.

"You will leave after two weeks and never come back again like Dumbledore said?"

"Yes," Harry said, earning a pleased look from Vernon.

"You will do no magic?" Petunia asked.

"Only if you don't give us a reason to," Hermione said quietly, which took the pleased look from Vernon's face again.

"You will stay in your room at all times, and you'll stay out of sight," Petunia said as if she had not heard Hermione's last comment.

Hermione was just about to disagree, but Harry said yes before she could.

"Very well, get into the car and stay quiet," she said, ignoring her husband's stare.

"Oh, and give him his voice back again, will you?" she said, motioning towards her glaring husband as she started to walk away.

A few minutes later, a sullen Vernon, a fairly calm Petunia, a very frightened Dudley, and three victorious 'freaks' were cruising along a motor way on their way towards number four, Privet Drive.


	2. Good Bye, Potter

**Harry Potter**

**Lord Of Light And Darkness  
**

**  
Book1:  
Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 2**  
**Good Bye, Potter**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

**Warning: **Heavy violence in this chapter, Character Death.

* * *

**Beta'd by: **

**Primary Beta: **Raisinous Fiendling from 'Perfect Imagination

**Secondary Beta: **RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

The journey to Privet Drive was for the most part fairly uneventful, for the trio at least. For the Dursleys, it was one of the worst trips they had ever had.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry spent most of the trip talking about magic and other wizarding issues, much to the dismay of Harry's relatives, especially Vernon, who had to struggle very hard to stop himself from turning his head to shout at them.

This made Petunia very worried and after Vernon nearly caused an accident, where he almost drove head first into a truck while going at about 140 kilometres per hour, Petunia had to forcefully relieve a mentally exhausted and very white-faced Vernon from the steering wheel.

This did not, however, save Vernon from a nice juicy ticket.

Harry was sure that the only reason they were not dead was because either Ron or Hermione had somehow managed to Apparate the car and its passengers several meters to the other side of the road. Mentally, he made a note to ask them about it later on.

The rest of the journey went without any further problems, though that probably was because the trio felt it best to leave the Dursleys in peace. One near death experience was in Hermione's opinion, and, Harry hoped, in Ron's too, more than enough for one day.

True, Arthur, Ron's father and a great lover of anything 'Muggle', had once mentioned that he would have liked to have witnessed an accident, but the idea of being squashed to pulp by a 100+ ton truck would definitely not be on anybody's wish list.

Finally the car came to a complete stop in front of number four, Privet Drive.

Quietly the trio watched an extremely distraught Dudley scurry up the driveway and into the house as fast as his overweight body could take him, while a worried Petunia chased after him. After a minute of silence, the trio followed.

Leaving Harry's aunt and uncle in the kitchen to comfort Dudley, Harry led his two friends up the stairs right into his room.

It didn't take them very long to get settled in. The fact that they had to share a room didn't bother them in the least. In fact, Harry was sure that Ron was a little disappointed when Hermione announced that they would all be sleeping in separate beds that night. However, he made a point not to mention it to either of them.

After magically enlarging the room, Hermione conjured herself and Ron two beds, which she placed alongside Harry's. Placing their sleeping bags inside the cots, to act as blankets, she also transfigured one of Dudley's old toys and an old lamp into two wardrobes, one for herself and one for Ron.

Finally, the trio felt it was time for some food. Harry called Dobby, who appeared with a small pop. He asked the elf to bring them something to eat, which the enthusiastic creature did with glee.

What Harry did not know, however, was that Dobby had raided the Dursleys' larder and the next thing they all noticed was a very angry red faced Vernon bellowing at Dudley. Vernon in his rage was convinced that Dudley had not only invaded the fridge, as he usually did, but this time the larder as well, much to Harry's and Ron's amusement, though Hermione wasn't very impressed.

Ron just shrugged; anything which annoyed the Dursleys was more than okay with him.

The Dursleys had starved Harry for his whole life, and in his opinion it was only right to pay them back in kind.

After their meal, Ron suggested that he would like to go for a walk outside.

At first Hermione tried to explain that Harry had effectively made a deal with his aunt for them to stay in his room for the next two weeks, but when Harry pulled out his father's old Invisibility Cloak, her eyes lit up with understanding.

Before leading his friends down the stairs and through the back door, right under the eyes of his uncle who was trying to leisurely read a newspaper, Harry had explained that the front door had been rigged with something, which his uncle called an alarm system.

When asked what that was by Ron, Harry had answered that Vernon had openly claimed that it would alert him if he, Harry, were ever to attempt to leave the house without his permission.

Luckily, while they rigged both doors, they usually left the alarm on the back door off, unless they were out for the night, thinking that as long as one of them was in the kitchen at all times Harry would never be able to leave through the back.

This had made Harry laugh since neither of his relatives had known about his Invisibility Cloak, and he was more than happy to let them believe that they had effectively imprisoned him.

The trio spent the next few hours walking from one park to the next. At first Hermione had fretted about staying out for too long, thinking Harry's aunt and uncle were bound to check up on them sometime.

Harry, however, was not worried. After he explained that his relatives were more than happy to leave him alone and that as far as they were concerned, the less they saw of Harry, and now Ron and Hermione as well, the better, which Harry wholeheartedly agreed with, Hermione had started to relax.

Soon it was beginning to get dark and the trio were on their way back home when Harry suddenly grabbed his two friends and pulled them into the nearby bushes. Hermione was just about to demand an explanation when Harry motioned her to be quiet.

"Shhhh…Some of Dudley's gang members are coming this way, you know the ones who used to play 'Harry hunting' when I was younger, and I'd prefer to avoid a confrontation," Harry said quietly.

This announcement quickly shut his two friends up.

Quietly they watched as the small group of thugs came closer and started to vandalise one of the park benches nearby. One of the thugs held an item, which closely resembled a saw. Seconds later, they heard the bench crack as it broke in two.

"Someone has to teach them a lesson," Hermione whispered furiously from her hiding place.

"I know, but not us," Harry whispered as he peered over a bush to have better look. He regretted it immediately.

"Hey guys, look! Guess who it is!" one of the group said, having spotted Harry. "It's Harry scar-face, the freak!"

Harry recognised the boy from Dudley's class, whose name he remembered was Peterson. Harry groaned as the group of ten started to walk closer.

"Why me, why always me?" Harry said dismally. With a feeling of dread, some anger, but most of all despair, he frantically searched for a way out of this dilemma. Finding none, he sighed.

"Well, might as well get this over with," he said more to himself than to anybody else as he stepped out of his discovered hiding place.

"Hey Potty, what are you doing here?" one of the group called out.

"Yeah, scar-face, what are you doing here?" another asked as he started showing off one of his arms. One of the thugs reached out and pushed Harry, making him nearly topple over. Two others picked up sticks from the ground as they advanced, hefting them menacingly.

"You know that a freak like you isn't allowed in this part of the park, don't you? We're going to have to punish you again," the next said as the group stepped forward another bit.

Rage and fear Harry hadn't felt for the past five years started to boil through him as the group came closer and closer. In a split second, he remembered everything Dudley and his gang had ever done to him.

How they used to chase him around, playing a game called 'Harry dumping', where they would try to catch him and throw him into rubbish bins, after beating him up beforehand. At school, they would forbid anyone else from even talking to him, or else they would beat them up too.

Using all of the Occlumency skills Harry had learned in the previous few months, Harry tried to block out his emotions. It would not do to lose himself here…not now.

Behind him, Ron, still concealed by the bush, had drawn his wand, ready to hex or curse at a moment's notice.

"No, don't, Ron," Hermione whispered quietly. "You know you're not allowed to do magic publicly in front of Muggles," she added quickly, seeing what Ron was about to do.

"I'm not going to let those bastards hurt Harry," Ron said angrily, not taking his eyes off the advancing group. "Besides, what about Harry's relatives?" he asked.

"Oh look, the freak has found himself a girlfriend!" was the next thing either of them heard. One of the gang had heard Hermione as she spoke to Ron.

"And who's this? Is this your boyfriend? Amazing, you actually found another miserable rat like yourself to suck up to you, Pottyface?" said the next as he threw a stone at Harry, missing by an inch as Harry dodged it.

In a split second, Ron rushed out of the bushes and would have stormed right into the thugs, had Harry not grabbed him just in time.

"NO, RON, they'll tear you apart!" Harry said, frantically holding Ron back.

"Leave him alone!" Ron, shouted, trying his best to escape from Harry's grasp.

"Look, lads, lil Harry's cock sucker wants to have a black eye… Or better still, his ears cut off," Peterson said mockingly as he took another step closer. "Shall we oblige him?" he asked.

"Leave us alone, you bastards," Ron bellowed, getting extremely red in the face.

"Shut up, freak," said a well-built boy, who Harry remembered as Aaron.

"Yeah, Harry, tell your boyfriend to shut up or else we will have to give him, you, and your girlfriend new faces," said another, named Gale. Gale was playfully brandishing a knife.

"Yeah, freak faces," Peterson added and the gang laughed.

Behind them they heard a shriek as a few of the gang who had managed to creep behind the trio grabbed Hermione, punched her in the face and pulled at her skirt, tearing it as he pulled her to the ground.

"HERMIONE! NO!" Ron cried out in alarm, as he heard her shriek, while the gang laughed. With a huge shove Ron burst free of Harry and punched the thug who was holding Hermione, surprising everybody by using a basic 'one-two…knock out' punch.

With a loud crack, the boy fell to the ground.

A second later Ron felt a sharp pain as he got hit across the head with a branch and he too fell to the ground.

"_Stupefy_!" Hermione and Harry screamed together and a second later two boys simultaneously flew for several feet and fell heavily, one against a tree, the other to the ground, bleeding and stunned.

Seeing this, the rest of the boys froze in shock.

"Wha…what wa…wa…"one of the boys started to say

"What was that?" a very pissed off Hermione said, helping him out in an exceedingly angry voice, as she picked herself up from the ground, giving the downed gang member who had pushed her down a good sharp kick.

The boy who had spoken nodded stupidly.

"That was only a taste of my wrath which you bunch of bloody assholeswill receive if you don't turn around and scram immediately," she spat out angrily, her hair billowing out behind her, her wand pointing right at the balls of the boy who had spoken. She looked wild in her rage.

Harry shivered slightly and stood beside her, pointing his wand at a different member of the gang. He was doing his best to keep his own anger under control, but only just.

Ron was still on the ground out cold.

The boy started to step back but another took a step forward.

"_Ingeriopenlamia_! _Petrificus_ _Totalus_!" Hermione screamed.

Harry watched, flinching slightly, as the boy froze and landed heavily on the ground, his whole body turned into a mass of bat wings, which seemed to suck at the boy's body. He knew how painful such a spell could be, and could only guess what the thug's friends would be thinking just now.

That was all the rest of the gang needed. With screams of absolute horror, they turned around and ran, leaving their downed friends behind.

Sighing, Hermione lowered her wand. Harry followed suit shortly.

"I loathe people like that," she said angrily as she watched the rest of the gang run away.

"What are we going to do about those?" Ron asked from beside her, motioning towards the few remaining boys on the ground. He had finally managed to get up again and was tenderly holding his head, which now sported an enormous bump and a few bruises.

"Leave them; the spells will wear off after a while. We will have to send an owl to the Ministry, explaining to them what happened so that they can Obliviate them. After they hear what happened we should be fine," Hermione said wearily as she repaired her skirt and healed Ron's injuries with her wand, before turning to her own. "That is if they don't know already," she added, and sure enough a few seconds later they heard a few cracks as several Ministry officials appeared all around them.

Slowly, after a few explanations, the trio started to walk away, leaving the boys behind with the Obliviation squad. Harry was happy to hear that he would not be receiving another letter from the Ministry any time soon.

Ron managed to sneak in a kick before he left and before long they were back inside the house with Harry depositing his Cloak. Shortly afterwards they began to get ready for bed.

Harry and Ron changed in the room while Hermione went into the toilet to change. Before long, all three of them were lying peacefully in their beds, fast asleep.

* * *

Outside number four, Privet Drive, a few mysterious people dressed in black cloaks and wearing masks were waiting for the signal to attack. Beside them lay the half hidden body of an unlucky lone Order member, once a part of Harry's guard.

Just a few hours before, Bellatrix Lestrange had watched with crazed, hungry eyes as a woman who she thought was Harry's aunt had left the safety of the house to go to a grocery store down the road.

Her master had specifically told her that the only way she would be able to enter the house would be if the blood wards recognised her as part of the family.

For that to happen, she needed a small amount of the woman's blood. Then, once she opened the house as part of Harry's family, inviting the rest in, they would be able to follow.

With a small wave of her wand, Bellatrix had quietly crept after her victim. A few minutes later, a small screech had been heard from the shadows and then all was quiet again.

That had been a few hours ago, and to her disgust she had had to release Harry's aunt...with an altered memory, of course. Her master had warned her that she was not allowed to kill her…yet. Bellatrix had hated that.

Suddenly a man, half-human, half demon, dressed fully in deep red with a blood red cape, appeared beside her.

"Is everything ready?" he asked in his well-known cruel voice.

"Of course, my Lord," Bellatrix answered, a sadistic grin appearing across her face.

"What about the fortune tellers?" Voldemort asked.

"The Bloodhounds, Death Daggers, and the Black Wraith squads are taking care of them as we speak, my lord," came the reply.

"Very well. Dark Flames, proceed," Voldemort commanded, a sadistic smile blooming across his face.

And so it began.

* * *

The next thing Harry heard was a loud explosion coming from downstairs as the whole house shook. Springing awake, the trio all grabbed their wands.

"What was that?" Ron asked in alarm, in bed with Hermione. Somehow, during the night, he had succeeded in switching beds and had had his arms around Hermione as the house shook.

"That sounded like an explosion," Hermione said, her face filled with fear, too afraid to even blush at the fact of being caught having Ron beside her.

Suddenly the door opened and a frightened Dudley rushed into the room.

Taken by surprise and without thinking, Harry, Ron and Hermione shouted '_Stupefy_!' in unison, blasting Dudley off his feet and right into the wall.

Horrified by what had just happened, Harry rushed over to his cousin and lifted the spell.

"Sorry, Du…" he started to say but stopped instantly, for he could hear screams coming from below.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other in dismay. The next thing they all heard was the sound of a shotgun being fired, which was followed by the soft thud of a falling body.

"Shit," Harry swore as he rushed towards the door.

He had just reached the top of the stairs when he heard four voices shout, "_Avada Kedavra!_" This was followed by another thud and then a scream, which he recognised as his aunt's.

Harry froze in shock, his eyes widening in alarm.

_No…it can't be…it just can't be_, he thought as he realised that it could and that it had in fact happened. One of his relatives, by the sound of it his uncle, had just died.

"You bloody bastard!" Harry heard his aunt screech.

"_Crucio_," another voice said and a second later Petunia began to scream in pain.

Harry didn't know what to do; beside him his friends were looking at him, their faces white with horror. Hearing the screams of his mother, Dudley got up and raced down the stairs.

"No!" Harry screamed, trying to catch his cousin, but it was too late.

The next thing he heard was another voice saying, '_Crucio_,' which added Dudley's cries of pain to those of his mother. Multiple people could be heard laughing.

Without another word, acting totally on instinct, Harry ran down the stairs, his wand out, and began shooting hexes at the first people he saw, much to the horror of his friends, who took one last miserable look at each other and followed.

In his rage Harry was blasting curses and hexes all over the place, not really caring what or who they hit. As far as he was concerned, everything they hit would be worth it.

Below, he could see ten Death Eaters; one was dead on the ground with a bullet wound in his head while two had their wands out and were torturing Harry's last two remaining relatives. One was busy pulling down his pants, ready to rape Harry's aunt.

Harry's first two spells, one a simple Reducto and the other a high-powered explosive hex, hit the same Death Eater, blew him away from Petunia and slammed him into the wall with a sickening crunch, which suggested that his spine had shattered. With a smile, Harry watched the Death Eater who had tried to rape his aunt fall to the ground, dead.

The next hit a Death Eater in the face. With a macabre smile Harry noticed that by blowing off the mask, he also blew out Bellatrix's eyes and that she was now clutching her face screaming in agony.

"That's for Sirius," he thought out loud, happy that his godfather had been avenged.

Harry's third spell missed its intended target and flew straight into the television, which exploded and electrocuted another Death Eater who was standing nearby and whose hand had been resting on it.

Harry's fourth and fifth also missed and flew harmlessly into the wall where they left nothing but a large hole. Another Death Eater, who had been trying to dodge, tripped and fell flat on his face, breaking his nose with the impact.

Around this time, the remaining Death Eaters realised what was happening and began to frantically take cover.

The trio, realising the same, also took cover as five spells flew their way only to collide safely with the wall behind them. Another spell flew into a curtain and promptly set it on fire.

Swearing, Harry tried another spell, but he missed again as this time it flew into the kitchen table, blowing it apart, showering the room with splinters.

For the next few minutes, the house became a full-scale war zone. Both sides were blasting spells at each other with exceptional force, but neither was hitting. Furniture exploded all around them and every window was shattered. Everyone had countless cuts and bruises all over their bodies, yet all ignored their injuries and fought on. The fire had started to spread and was slowly edging closer to the trio's positions.

Seeing that their time was running out, Harry decided to try something drastic. He had to change position soon, or all would be lost. Signaling to his friends that he was about to make an offensive run, he made sure that they understood. Crouching beside a kitchen bench, he waited for the right moment. Then, collecting all of his Gryffindor courage, with a small cry of attack he dodged forward, firing spells as he ran straight towards another room where he hoped to gain some cover.

Immediately spells started to fly all over the place with new ferocity. A few times a spell nearly hit Harry, singeing his clothes, but somehow he always managed to survive it as he simultaneously picked off one Death Eater after another.

It looked as if Harry's side would win. Then, with only two Death Eaters remaining, it all went wrong. From one split second to the next, five more Death Eaters entered the room and joined the fray. Amongst them was a sixth, mightiest of them all, Voldemort himself. Before Harry knew it, a blue beam of light apparently came out of nowhere and hit him, disintegrating his wand in a ball of flames.

With a look of pure shock on his face, Harry tried to retreat, when he suddenly lost all control over his legs and hands. Clumsily, he fell to the ground.

Hearing his friends gasp and cry out in horror, he just noticed Hermione try to rush out to him but Ron held her back.

"No, don't! Run…get away from here!" Harry managed to shout out just before he heard a familiar voice say, "_Sectumsempra_." A second later, he felt blinding pain as the deadly cutting spell sliced through his leg.

For the next minute, Harry could do nothing else but scream as the pain swept through his leg. Finally, he managed to get himself under control.

"Turn him over so that he can see me," the familiar voice of his greatest enemy called out. He sounded extremely happy.

Harry could hear someone walk over to him only to hear Ron shout 'Diffindo!' managing to send another spell towards the Death Eater.

"Ron… Hermione... RUN!!" he managed to shout just before he felt a complementary sharp pain in his side as someone kicked him in the stomach.

Wheezing from the pain and lack of air in his lungs, Harry tried to get his breath back again. Then he heard Voldemort give the order to capture his friends.

Immediately the remaining Death Eaters rushed forward, casting spells as they advanced towards his friends. In their haste to obey their lord, they didn't seem to care if they got hit or not.

Hermione and Ron tried to cast a few more spells but were easily subdued as several stunning hexes flew at them from all sides. Harry closed his eyes in anguish when he heard the painful cries of his friends as they were hit.

"Good, now turn him over…I want him to see everything," Voldemort said again, triumphantly, and a few seconds later someone grabbed Harry and swept him off the ground by his hair until he could face the other way.

A cold feeling of dread and despair engulfed Harry as he looked into his nemesis' eyes.

_Oh no_, he thought to himself dismally as he released a groan.

"Oh yes," Voldemort said gleefully.

Beside him, his two friends were pushed heavily to the ground. Ron tried to fight back but quickly fell limp after a strong foot kicked him right in the groin. With a large gasp, Ron let himself fall to the ground.

Wincing and sighing heavily, Harry raised his head to look into the eyes of his tormentor. If he was going to die, then at least he would do so looking into his eyes and not cowering before him. Hermione was looking at Harry with worried eyes. She could see that he was losing a lot of blood from his wound…too much blood.

Silently Voldemort cast a spell, stopping the flow of blood from Harry's wound, though he did not close it. Clearly, Voldemort wanted to prolong his enemy's agony as long as possible.

Happy that Harry would not die from loss of blood, at least not yet, Voldemort, judging the moment under control, started to talk.

"So, the great Harry Potter lies before me, defeated at last. Bet you didn't see that coming, did you, Harry?" Voldemort said as he stood over Harry, gloating, with a huge victorious smile all over his face.

"Did you really think you could hide from me? Did you really think you could defeat me, Harry?" Voldemort said in a mocking voice. "Did little baby Potter really think that he, a mere child of sixteen, could even have a chance against me?" he cooed, which made the remaining Death Eaters laugh in amusement.

"Well, you were wrong!" Voldemort screamed. "_Crucio_!"

Harry didn't know how long Voldemort held him under the Cruciatus Curse. For the next few minutes all he knew of was the familiar sensation of hundreds of imaginative scalding hot knives, cutting out of his body simultaneously, from the inside, as the pain of the Cruciatus Curse roared through his body.

His whole body seemed to be on fire. That, and the other pain in his leg, made it nearly unbearable. Harry could do nothing else but scream wildly as the pain swept through his body. Either way, the next thing he heard was Hermione's voice.

"Stop it!" she screamed, tears falling from her face. She never could stand the torture curse and she was shaking horribly, close to a break down.

Whether from the shock of being interrupted or because he wanted to anyway, Harry couldn't tell, Voldemort lifted the curse.

Panting and sweating from the pain, Harry tried to compose himself…but with not a lot of success. He was fairly sure that he couldn't have taken much more of it.

"So, Harry's little lady has decided to join the fun," Voldemort said with a small smile.

"So be it… _Crucio_," he said pointing his wand at Hermione and this time it was she who was rolling on the floor screaming in pain.

Amongst her agonising screams, Harry did his best to straighten himself up. He wasn't going to allow Voldemort any satisfaction, no matter what he did, he vowed to himself.

Voldemort seemed to sense Harry's intentions as he stopped torturing Hermione, who let herself fall to the ground, twitching horribly. At first he frowned but soon an evil grin appeared across his face.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," he said slowly. "Harry, Harry, Harry."

"Yes, that's my name… Tom," Harry said defiantly, his voice filled with hate, not caring anymore what he said. At this stage, he welcomed death.

Voldemort's eyes turned red with complete rage. For a second he held his wand, ready to cast, but he managed to calm himself. Slowly, he began to smile evilly.

"Poor old Harry," Voldemort continued to say as if nothing had happened. "How many of your friends and family have I killed so far? Let's see now," he said out loud.

"Ah yesssss, of course…first came your father, then your mom, right?" he taunted. "Yes, what a pretty little damsel in distress, you should have seen her beg," Voldemort said.

"'Please, spare him, spare him, please,'" he said in his best imitation of a whining girl. "'Don't kill him, oh please don't kill him…boo hoo.'"

"My mother did not beg!" Harry screamed.

"Oh what a pretty little Mudblood she was, Harry, but nevertheless still a Mudblood and not worthy of life," Voldemort continued to taunt, ignoring Harry.

"Shut up, you foul bastard, go to hell!" Harry screamed again, his voice full with rage.

"She was practically begging me to kill her…and, yes, I, being the merciful lord, granted her that wish," Voldemort said, his voice becoming louder and he smiled sweetly as he saw Harry's rage. "And now, Harry, I'll let you have the honour of watching as I extend that same mercy to every one of your friends. One by one, Muggle by Muggle, Mudblood by Mudblood, and Muggle lovers too… Right in front of your eyes, I will rid them of their…'Muggleness', this disease…this impurity," he said looking straight at Harry, enjoying the revulsion in his enemy's eyes.

Harry, who was now feeling ill, turned to look at his friends and relatives. Hermione, Ron, Petunia and Dudley all wore the same doomed expression on their faces. They all knew that they were going to die, unless some miracle happened soon.

Looking back at Voldemort, Harry realised that the end had finally come and nothing he could do would make a difference.

With a last desperate attempt, realising that he could use his arms and legs again, Harry launched himself at Voldemort and tried to punch him into the face, Muggle style, much to the shocked surprise of everybody else.

Voldemort only had a second to realise what was happening and at the last possible moment he Apparated and appeared again right behind Harry.

"_Crucio_," he snarled, enraged, and Harry found himself once more back on the ground.

A minute later, Voldemort once again released the spell and motioned for a few Death Eaters to restrain him.

Utterly defeated, Harry made no attempt to stop them. He didn't know what that would accomplish anyway, and the next thing he knew, he was bound effectively by multiple ropes.

"Nice try, Harry," Voldemort said. His smile had totally disappeared, replaced by revulsion. "But not good enough. Now, watch your friends die," he said and with a swift motion he turned to look at his other captives.

All Harry could do was watch silently, with horror, as Voldemort started to parade up and down along his friends. Looking directly at his victims, Voldemort started to chant.

"Once there was a hogling… what can I say...  
His name was Potter…Harry Potter…the boy who went astray.  
Potter was a stupid boy, a Muggle-loving Gryffindor brat.  
A very stupid little boy who somehow lost his…"

Voldemort paused for a second, deep in thought, then said:

"Cranium hat.  
Potter had some friends, whoever could have guessed.  
They really weren't the brightest bunch… and surely not the best.  
Two Muggles known as Petunia and Dudley, unworthy like the name.  
A Mudblood named Granger, unworthy just the same.  
A traitorous pure-blood named Ronald…"

Voldmort paused for another second, then finished with:

"Now that's just lame."

Not quite happy with his last line, he cringed slightly, then continued with:

"But nevertheless a traitor, a weasel… so just game.  
So…Let us now cure them all,  
Relieve them from their shame,  
For I, being the merciful lord,  
Shall cure them in my name.  
_Avada Kedavra_!"

At that moment, Voldemort stopped chanting, waved his wand, and a green beam flew right into Petunia. With a thud, she fell over and on to the ground, dead.

Dudley screamed out in horror and began to wail horribly.

Hermione and Ron just looked at each other with white faces.

Their thoughts were clear: this is it, mate, I'll see you later on.

Repulsed by Dudley's wailing, Voldemort stopped singing and pointed his wand at Dudley.

"_Avada Kedavra_," he said again. The second beam struck Dudley straight in the chest, silencing him, and effectively killing the last of Harry's remaining relatives.

Harry just closed his eyes. Tears were falling from his eyes and he was beginning to shake horribly.

Turning to face Harry, Voldemort sneered.

"Do you see your end, Harry, do you see the inevitable?" Voldemort asked haughtily.

Slowly he turned away from the boy. Enjoying the moment, he faced Hermione and Ron.

As the next beam of deathly light raced towards one of them, this time it was Ron. Ron just had enough time to say, "I love you," before, with a brief flash of green, everything went dark.

As soon as Ron fell to the ground, Hermione broke down in tears and started to sob heavily. She didn't care what anybody thought; she just let the tears fall.

Voldemort started to walk towards Hermione, not realising the strange sight behind him.

For behind him, Harry had started to glow and small sparks were being released from his body. Harry was trembling horribly; his tremors were steadily increasing and he was starting to flicker.

"So, Mudblood, you're next…any last wishes?" Voldemort asked as he grabbed her by the hair with such force that she yelped. With one hand, he held her up in the air by her hair; with the other, he backhanded her right across the face.

"Maybe I should let my Death Eaters have some fun with you before I finish you off," he mused, holding Hermione's face in place so that he could look right into her eyes.

With one swift movement Hermione spat into Voldemort's face.

Behind them, in addition to his tremors, Harry was beginning to glow and fluctuate. He was beginning to lose control over his magic. Frantically he tried to bring himself back under control.

The Death Eaters and Voldemort were all too busy with their other prey to notice Harry's ever increasing predicament. Voldemort slapped Hermione one last time, cutting her face in the process, then threw her to the ground.

Seeing this, Harry blanched; his body was becoming highly unstable. Ruthlessly he struggled against his bonds…he just couldn't bear to watch…but some spell was keeping his face in place.

Harry closed his eyes. _Hermione…Ron… I'm sorry… I failed us all… I'm so sorry_, he thought as he felt his control slipping.

"She's all yours…give her hell," Voldemort called out to his remaining Death Eaters.

At Voldemort's command, the Death Eaters rushed forward and started to grab Hermione and drag her to a corner. Hermione tried to resist but couldn't. In great pain she started to scream.

Amongst Hermione's agonizing screams, Harry completely lost control. Opening his eyes, Harry had one last fleeting look at Hermione in agony, before he felt a sudden immense increase of power, then blinding pain. He cried out…

A few Death Eaters and Voldemort turned; one screamed out in alarm, but it was too late.

Voldemort only had enough time for a brief glance, his eyes widening with fear as Harry literally exploded.

The resulting explosion blew the whole house apart and the roof shot fifty meters into the sky before it fell to the ground a few hundred meters away with an almighty crash right into another building.

Just before Harry exploded, Voldemort managed to put up a strong shield, but the resulting shockwave of the explosion tore right though it, like a hot knife through butter.

The last thing Voldemort saw was one of his Death Eaters torn apart, his arms and legs ripped away from the rest of his body with his skin burnt to crisp.

Then all went black.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall, newly instated headmistress of Hogwarts was sitting in her office, scornfully reading the newest lies the _Daily Prophet_ had somehow managed to dig up, when Filius Flitwick ran into her office without even knocking.

He just threw the door open and rushed inside. He didn't even care when one of the doors hinges broke from the force, even though it was a great feat for a man his size.

McGonagall, seeing the look of absolute dread on her Charms professor's face instantly knew something terrible had happened.

"Fil, what's wrong?" she asked, great worry appearing all over her face as a feeling of immense dread seeped over her.

One look at Filius's face told Minerva all that she had to know. They had a problem and the problem could be summed up with a single word…

Harry.

"How bad?" were the only two words that left her mouth.

"We have a code black," Filius said, his face absolutely white.

Minerva, her eyes wide with fear, jumped to her feet and ran to the fireplace. A code black was the highest state of alert within the Order. It practically always meant that someone was about to die, if they hadn't died already.

Little did she know how true that was.

A quick Floo-call and Minerva had alerted the rest of the Order and was now on her way to Privet Drive… or, rather, as close to Privet Drive as she could go.

For some reason the Floo at Mrs Figg's house didn't seem to be connected.

Cursing to herself, Minerva rushed out of her new office and headed straight for the castle grounds. She had to get out of the castle grounds, or rather out of the castle's wards, before she could Apparate, and that was a lot of wasted time. _If only Dumbledore were still amongst us_, she thought, hoping that she wouldn't be too late.

Once outside of the wards she Apparated to where number four Privet Drive was supposed to be; only it wasn't there anymore.

With a look of absolute shock and dread on her face, she rushed over to where the house had once stood, the house of her and the wizarding world's last hope, just as a few more order members appeared around her.

"By Merlin, what happened here?" Kingsley Shacklebolt said, his eyes widening, as he took his first look around. All that was left of the house and its surrounding, the whole block in fact, was a heap of rubble and flames.

"Where is Harry?" said a very anxious looking Remus Lupin as he also arrived.

Minerva didn't know what to say; all she could do was stare at what had once been number four.

Suddenly a loud scream from Molly Weasley brought her out of her stupor. Looking over, she gasped with absolute shock.

Impaled, with a broken beam sticking out of him, was the form of the greatest Dark Lord the wizarding world had ever seen: Voldemort.

Immediately she drew her wand but soon realised that she need not have worried. Voldemort was in no state to fight. His back was completely smashed and his legs were missing, torn from the rest of his body.

What had Harry's words been last year? 'If I have to die, I'll at least make sure to take Voldemort with me.'

He definitely had.

Minerva walked over to her biggest enemy and looked into the once feared eyes. He looked so peaceful now, hard to think that this man had once been so dangerous, so feared.

Suddenly Voldemort's eyes opened, which caused Minerva to shriek and jump back in fright. Everybody else pointed their wands right at him and they all stared in shock as Voldemort started to laugh, although his laugh was severely laboured and it was clear that he was in great pain.

Then Voldemort started to speak.

"You failed, you all failed. Your hero is dead," he said just before he coughed up some blood.

"Your hero is dead and I will return," he said and tried to laugh, though it ended up more in a strangled cough. Taking a deep breath, Voldemort continued to speak. "Hear this, you old fool Dumbledore, wherever you are. I may be defeated now, but I will have the last word. I may be gone for now but I will return and there is nothing you or your pawns can do to stop me," he called out just before he coughed again.

This time in a weaker voice, he addressed Minerva and the rest of the shell-shocked order. "Your hero blew himself up in a last attempt to kill me. Blew his friends up, too," Voldemort said which earned him a horrific scream from a distraught Molly Weasley who started to sob terribly.

With his final dieing words Voldemort said, "You're next…Min…er…va…"

Then he said no more as with a flash of green his body collapsed.

Minerva shuddered at his last words.

"No, Tom, not if I can help it," she said quietly, bitterly, before she started to walk away.

From the ashes of the house, one of the Order members gave a shout. Rushing up to Minerva, the Auror handed her a bloody hand, which he had found in the ruins.

Minerva dropped the hand with dismay and complete shock as she noticed a scar saying 'I must not tell lies' engraved into it.

Upon seeing the scar, it was Remus's turn to cry out as he keeled over and heaved, relieving himself of his breakfast.

This seemed like ultimate proof to the rest of the Order, who bowed their heads and said silent prayers. Some Apparated away, all hope lost, utterly defeated.

Giving the house, or rather the place the house had once stood, one last look, Minerva, who was now having great difficulties breathing, turned to look at the last remaining members of the Order. There were so few.

Taking what was left of Harry's hand with her, for tests, to reassure that it really was his, and as a last dying hope that it wasn't, she motioned them to pull back and without another word was gone.

A few seconds later the rest of the Order and Ministry officials left.

In the distance a few police sirens shrieked, neared…late.

* * *

The next day the _Daily Prophet_ glared out evilly, sending three gloomy messages out to the world.

One message was read with shock, the others, though still horrible, not as much.

_The end of The Boy Who Lived, on page 1. _

_Are we Seerless? Famous Fortune teller Sylvia Fortuna and countless colleagues found dead, page 6. _

_Last predictions and other facts, page 8._


	3. A Small Reunion

**Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 3 **

**A**** Small Reunion**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter.**

**Beta'd by: Clara Minutes and** **Raisinous Fiendling. **

* * *

Harry woke up in a white hospital room. At least that's what it looked like.  
At first he just lay there, letting his memory of the last night rush over him as he closed his eyes in despair. He just let it all sink in, or at least that which he could remember. 

He remembered everything up to a certain point, just before he felt an unreal amount of pain, a pain which felt like as if his body were tearing itself apart.  
He was still trying to figure out what that could have been when:

"Hello, Harry, I see you're awake," a familiar voice sounded suddenly. "Come, the rest are waiting for you… I'll answer your questions while we walk."

Looking up quickly, full of surprise, Harry expected to see a Death Eater or maybe Voldemort himself. Instead, he saw Sirius.

"Sirius!" he exclaimed, his thoughts suddenly forgotten only to be replaced with disbelief.

"That can't be… You're dead, I saw you die. Is this some sort of sick trick? Who are you?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"It's me all right, pup," the man said in that kind gentle voice which he knew so well.

"Prove it. Tell me something only the real Sirius could know," Harry said in his best Moody paranoia. He just couldn't take any risks.

"All right," Sirius said, then he thought for a second.

Looking straight into Harry's eyes he answered:

"I was going to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper at first, until it was changed to Peter. We thought nobody would suspect him as everybody knew how close, and loyal, I was to the Potters."  
"Sadly, the little rat was not so loyal as he preferred power and betrayal over love and friendship," Sirius added bitterly, pausing to think for a second, before he continued to speak.  
"In your fifth year, you snuck into Umbridge's office to Floo-call Grimmauld place to ask a few questions about your father. You wanted to know about an incident with Snape in your father's fifth year."  
"Only you, the twins, Ron, Hermione, and I know that you are actually the secret financial backer of Fred and George's joke shop Weasleys Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley… you gave them your winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. I was so proud of you for that."  
"By the way, after you told…"

Harry cut him off. He had heard enough. He looked up at Sirius with tears in his eyes. It really was him. It really was his godfather in front of him. No one else could know all of that - not everything together, at least.  
Without wasting any more time, not giving his godfather a chance to finish, Harry rushed forward and literally threw himself at the man, knocking him over.  
Neither of the two cared as they fell to the ground in a tangled heap.  
For the next few minutes, Harry just sobbed right into Sirius' arms.

"I really missed you," he said after a while.

"I know," Sirius answered lovingly. He, too, had a few tears in his eyes, though he was better at hiding them.

"Come, we can talk while we walk…or we can walk while we talk," he added happily.

After untangling and rising from the ground, Harry followed Sirius along a white corridor.

"So, where am I?" Harry asked, after taking a look around.

"I would have thought that to be clear," his godfather answered kindly.

"Well I've never been here before… so no, I don't know…" Harry started to say.

"Harry, you're dead, you died," Sirius said in a matter of fact voice, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh"  
"I see"  
"Then… this is the afterlife?" Harry asked with an unsure, shocked voice.

"Yes… well… nearly," Sirius answered.

"Nearly?" Harry asked. It was clear that he was a little shocked, although after what he had just been through, he shouldn't have been surprised.

Then Sirius knowingly said, "Not what you expected, is it, Harry?"

"No," Harry agreed as he took another look around.

For the next few minutes, Sirius explained that at first the afterlife was the same for everybody. At first that is.  
That it was kept simple for everybody, just a simple room and corridor.  
Later, he explained, when a dead person was ready, the person would then be able to be anywhere and see anything… whatever he or she wanted to see.

"In fact, at the moment I actually see myself, and you, in a sauna - or at least that's what I think they are called. We really could learn from those Muggles, you know," he said with a dazed, dreamy look.

"Anyway… I really do enjoy a nice relaxing moment from time to time," Sirius said casually.

Ignoring Sirius's last comment, Harry continued. "So, I really am… dead."  
It was more a statement than a question.

"Well you can't really expect to live after tearing your body apart with an explosion that rocked the holy bejesus out of the neighbourhood and took nearly a whole bloody block with you at the same time, now can you?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows as he spoke.

"Oh," Harry said, simply at a loss for words, shocked at what he had done.  
"What about Hermione… was anybody else killed?" he asked, remembering that Ron had already died.

"Guess?" Sirius answered.

Grimacing, Harry looked away. He could only guess the carnage he had caused.  
He was only happy that he had relieved Hermione of her pain and had taken all of the Death Eaters, and maybe Voldemort with him too.

"Voldemort?" he asked with one word.

"Oh yes," came the satisfying reply.

"Good," Harry replied. "At least I stopped him for a while," he said before he continued with a forced smile.

His only regret was that the Dark Lord would not stay away forever.

"So when can I see everybody?" he asked, coming to terms with that, at least for him it was all over now. While he felt sad about his sudden failure, he really was beginning to like his new freedom. Shrugging it off, he felt eager to see Hermione, Ron and especially his parents. He never had wanted the burden anyhow and in a way he was glad that it was now over.

"Later," Sirius answered simply.

The way Sirius said later did not sound good. Harry could not hide the feeling that something was amiss. He was just about to ask him what he meant, but decided against it. He really did not want to know.  
After all, he would have plenty of time to do it later. What difference would a few hours… or even months make now anyway.

They continued to walk for a while, then Harry asked, "So what happens now?"

"Now we have a good, long, well-deserved chat," Sirius answered.

'Well… I guess we can,' Harry thought quietly to himself.  
"Well, I guess we have a lot of time now for that, don't we?" he said jokingly instead.

"Actually, Harry, it's not what you think. Not exactly," Sirius said, a small smile appearing across his face.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, bewildered. 'Oh no' he thought. His feeling of unease had just doubled.

"Well, Harry, once again, it looks like… as old Snivellus would say… the normal rules don't seem to apply to you," Sirius said with a grin.

'I knew it, here we go again' he thought with a sigh…'special rules for fate's poster boy the stupid Harry James Potter' Harry thought dismally. 'Even when I'm dead they don't leave me alone'.

Calming his mind, he prepared himself for what he knew was about to come.

"What do you mean by that? Am I dead or not?" Harry asked, looking up into his dead godfather's eyes with evident annoyance, doing his best to ignore Sirius's version of Snape's fancy name. He was going to have to talk about that anyway.

"Oh don't get me wrong, you're dead all right… as dead as anybody can be up here, there can be no arguing about that," Sirius said, his grin widening slightly.

"But," Harry said, trying to keep his temper.

Sirius continued:  
"It's just, with an insane, evil dark lord still at large on earth, the egg heads around here just couldn't accept that their chosen hero wasn't able to stop him."  
"It seems that some of us came together and somehow managed to convince the all powerful, all knowing, all seeing one…though that's debatable… to give you another chance."

'Of course they did…why wouldn't they'…'Everyone come and pick on the prophecy child, free canon fodder for the Dark Lord,' Harry thought angrily. He felt like screaming but stopped himself.  
Harry had a feeling that Sirius was hiding something significant, but at this point, he did not really care anymore. Fate really was a bitch, and this bitch really did not seem to like a boy name Harry Bloody Boy-Who-Lived Potter.  
Then he frowned as a sudden question came to mind.

"Wait a second… if you're just able to send me back like that then… why don't you just kill Tom instead?" he asked suspiciously.

That seemed to take Sirius by surprise.

"No… well… you see… the fact is…" Sirius said, pausing for a second, not sure how to continue. He suddenly became very uncomfortable.  
"You see… needless to say…"

At this moment, Sirius paused and steadied his thoughts. Harry's last question had un-edged him greatly. After a minute he continued to speak, ignoring Harry's question.

"As I was saying, Harry, The Holiness wasn't so cooperative at first, and in the beginning it looked as if you wouldn't be allowed to go back down, but after about half of us threatened to annoy The Holiness until eternity... which, believe me, is a long time," Sirius said, shuddering slightly.

"Sirius!" Harry said, trying to stop him. His godfather however didn't seem to hear him. Instead, he just continued to speak, though slightly faster and louder:

"Well, Harry, let's just say even 'It' wouldn't last that long without going insane," Sirius said.

Harry felt a small smile appear across his face as Sirius continued to stubbornly explain the situation. Even though he was annoyed that Sirius was trying to ignore him, he deciding to ask his question again later.  
He was a little confused by what or who Sirius meant by 'The Holiness', but he had a good idea.  
He could very well picture an angry mob of untameable, untouchable people… no… beings, stepping in to annoy a person while their tired colleagues took a well-earned rest.  
The idea of this going on forever made a small shudder go down his now imaginary spine.  
Deciding it best not to comment any further on Sirius's last remark, Harry waited until Sirius paused and instead asked again, "So why don't you just kill Voldy from up here instead… it should be easy."

Sirius sighed. He could see that he would not get away from this question no matter what.

"Very well, Harry, I'll try to answer, though I could be wrong…"  
"You would be surprised to hear this Harry…but it's not actually so simple, not anymore at least," Sirius answered wearily.

"What do you mean? Can you kill him or not?" Harry asked, his temper rising again slightly.

"Normally, yes," Sirius replied.

"Normally?" Harry asked, doing his best to stay calm.

"Well, yes, normally it would be easy to do, but, you see, with his Horcruxes, Voldy has…effectively anchored himself so firmly to the earth that killing him won't do much good anymore…"  
"You see, dying isn't just like going to sleep one day and not waking again…. Well it is…but in this case, it's different," Sirius tried to explain.

Harry was now very confused, his godfather wasn't making any sense anymore. Nevertheless, he let him continue.

"You see, Harry, when on earth, every being has two parts…a body and a soul. It's very easy to kill a body, but it's extremely difficult to destroy a soul," Sirius tried to explain.  
"Normally, the soul is set free whenever the body is killed, which would then allow it to come up here. In Voldy's case, however…well, Voldemort's soul pieces can't escape. So even if we killed his body, they would remain firmly on earth."  
"Besides, even God doesn't have the power to destroy a soul…well, God does…but it would be the worst thing God could ever do…."  
"You see, Harry, a soul… a soul is the most precious thing we have. To tear one apart would be an unforgivable sin," Sirius said gravely.  
"God can't do that. If God did," Sirius paused and for a few seconds his face went white and lost all sign of happiness. "Well, I shouldn't even talk about it," Sirius said, shuddering slightly at the thought.  
"That's just what Satan would do, and we can only guess what the Devil would do with the power to control…and destroy souls. He can't. So, no, that's not possible…thankfully," Sirius added solemnly.

Harry also shuddered at the thought of Satan having the power to control souls.

"No," he said, agreeing. "We couldn't have that."

Thinking it best to change the subject and seeing that Sirius really was not comfortable speaking about the subject anyway, Harry turned to a different question.

"So when do I get to go back?" Harry asked.

"Well…" said Sirius, then he paused. "First, we have to go talk to the grand council. Then if we have permission…" Sirius said.

"What permission? Didn't you just say that I have it?" Harry asked, confused.

"I know, I know, but it's not official yet," Sirius answered quietly.

"Is there a difference?" Harry asked his temper rising.

"Well… yes… maybe," Sirius answered.

It was clear he was not sure what he was talking about here either.

"Maybe?...God damn it…will you make up your mind man" Harry nearly roared.

It was bad enough that he had already resigned himself to his godfather's evident lack of knowledge, but this was now really beginning to greatly annoy him.

"This is my Life, your fucking around with," he swore heavily.

Hearing Harry swear, Sirius flinched but stayed calm. "No, no, don't worry, everything will be fine. If not …" Sirius answered quickly.  
"Well…erm, let's just say… if not, then old Voldy down on earth will be the least of our worries," he concluded somewhat awkwardly.  
"Anyway, as I was saying, once it's official…which it will be," he added quickly to stop Harry from retorting again, "we will first train you up a bit," Sirius said.

"Train me?" Harry asked, this time it was his time to be surprised, although he really should not have been.

"Yes, train you, Harry."

Seeing Harry's bewildered look, it was Sirius's time to become annoyed.

"By god, Harry, what did you think?" Sirius said loudly.

He paused, remembering his own awkwardness a few seconds ago, he continued in a much softer voice:

"Did you really believe we, the grand council of the After Life, the ruling council above all else, the assembly of the divine, some of the greatest witches and wizards ever to grace the world, not to mention the creator…"  
"Are you so surprised that they, everybody, me included, would just change an ancient rule and let you go back down there without training you up a bit first?" he asked, slightly exasperated, seeing the look of surprise on Harry's face. He was beginning to ramble now.  
"A fat lot of good it would do us all if you got killed again at the first sign of trouble."  
"I realise the Order, especially Dumbledore, liked to keep you in the dark a lot, but, in all fairness, in case you haven't noticed, there is a war going on down there, and we aren't just going to go through all of this trouble to put you back… I mean… we were not about to go through all of this trouble just to have you back up here again in a flash now would we? And I thought you had brains…" Sirius said, annoyed, though not unkindly.

"I do," Harry said quietly, really taken aback as if he had been slapped to the high heavens.

"Well, sometimes I wonder," Sirius shot back at him, although a small smile appeared across his face.

Coming to a mutual consent, the two walked in silence for a while until they reached a large, white, sparkling door at the end of the corridor.

Looking at Harry, Sirius paused for a second.

"Well, this is it, Harry. Once you step through this door, I won't see you again until the next time you die," Sirius said, giving Harry a reassuring smile. "If, however, they decide to not allow you to go back, I'll be waiting for you on the other side," Sirius said with a small wink.

"The other side?" Harry asked

"You'll see," Sirius answered simply, and with a small flash, he was gone.

Seeing that his godfather was not around anymore, Harry looked around for a handle on the door, but he could not see one.  
Instead, he noticed a hollow dent in the shape of a palm. Under the palm were the words:

_'Place your right hand here, and thy faith shall be thy judge.'_

Underneath was another message with the words:

_In the unfortunate case that your right hand is missing, we apologise for any inconvenience which may be caused. Our left hand service is currently out of order.  
Please wait and one of our support beings may realise that you are missing.  
In the unlikely but possible event that you are not missed, feel free to contact us by filing a complaint at the entrance area (the area where you first appeared) and a member of the ethereal rescue service will be with you as soon as possible.  
Alternatively, you may also apply for a new hand. Forms can be found in the entrance area also. Just fill them out and your new hand will appear shortly.  
We hope you enjoy your stay._

_As always, terms and conditions apply._

_Yours truly,_

_The Afterlife Staff_

Swallowing slightly, thankful that he still had his right hand, even after what had happened down on earth, Harry reached out and placed his right hand over the dent.  
Immediately, a white light engulfed his hand.  
Instinctively, Harry tried to pull his hand away but some hidden force kept it firmly in place.  
Accepting the inevitable, Harry waited and just as soon as the white light had appeared it disappeared again… a second later, the door opened with a click.

Harry walked through the door, and what he saw next took his breath away.  
In front of him was a huge crevice. Not just any old crevice, but one which stretched for miles from side to side, and which fell down for hundreds of miles as far as the eye could see.  
At the bottom of it there was what looked very faintly like a lake of red, hot lava.  
Looking across the gap, he saw a lone figure standing on the other side.

Now completely mesmerised, Harry was just about to wonder how he was supposed to cross to the other side when the figure started to chant.

_"Welcome, Mortal, for a mortal you still are and a mortal you shall remain to be,  
Until you cross over to where I stand in the land above the red sea."  
"How you cross is up to you…but beware, should you fail and fall,  
only hardship there will be."  
"For down below as far as the eye can see is Satan's fiery realm."  
"Should your heart be pure and…fairly free of sin…then feel free and cross, for the bridge of faith will bear thee.  
But should your heart be dark and filled with hate, then your faith is lost and forever more you shall be in dreadful misery."_

'Ok, it is fairly clear what he meant by all that, but that still doesn't explain how to get across,' Harry thought to himself. After hearing the figure's small speech, he still was not sure what he had to do.

It was clear to Harry that down below was not a place where he wanted to be, and for the next few minutes, he considered his options. For some reason his magic did not seem to work, so Apparition was out of the question.

Normally, the figure would have been more than happy to simply wait for the newly deceased mortal to cross, it was after all his favourite pastime, but this was no ordinary mortal.  
This individual was no other than the famous Harry Potter, a man who quite a few beings were waiting for at the other side, including the Holiness itself.

Sighing slightly, annoyed by the loss of one of his victims, the gate keeper started to speak again.

"Listen maggot, because that's just what you are, normally I would be more than happy to wait for a dumb insignificant waste of space like you, but there are a few highly important beings waiting for you over here, for what I'm not sure and I don't really care… but what I am sure about is that they have better things to be doing than to wait for you…so I'll just tell you what to do," he taunted.

"Now, if you feel you're worthy enough, just start to walk across. If you are deemed worthy, you will not fall. If you are not, well then you will. It is as simple as that. Now hurry up here and get your worthless spirit over a.s.a.p.," he added with a small amount of menace in his voice.

Hearing this, Harry put his right foot forward over the crevice.  
He could not believe what he was about to do.  
This went right against all belief and common sense.

Taking a deep breath, he summoned all of his Gryffindor courage and closed his eyes.  
With a great push to his legs and with a faith which he never realised he had, he leapt forward, really just expecting to fall.

Instead, he felt first one foot then the other touch down on solid ground.  
Opening his eyes in complete surprise, Harry chanced a look and to his complete astonishment he found out that he was now standing on the other side.

"What? How?" he asked out loud, surprise evident on his face.

"Welcome, faithful, you passed, I am happy to say that you're no worthless maggot after all...now on you go, they are waiting for you," said the voice of the figure which sounded much closer now and much more friendly.

Harry turned his head to look right at him, but the mysterious figure was gone.

Still shocked at what he had just done, Harry took another look around, and suddenly, his surroundings started to change.  
All around him, colours were changing and coming together. It was as if he was being pulled into a tunnel of multicoloured twirls. The colours were changing rapidly as he sped along. Then suddenly, the next thing Harry knew was that his skin was starting to peel off and fall off his body, yet he felt no pain.

'Hey boss, something is wrong here, your skin is falling off,' Harry's mind frantically tried to tell him.  
'My skin, it's falling off,' Harry thought absentmindedly, as the message got through to him. He felt as if nothing could surprise him anymore.

He was still too mesmerised by the spectacular display of the multicoloured tunnel for his brain to function properly.  
Slowly, realisation flooded through to him. "MY SKIN…IS WHAT?" he screamed, now fully aware of the change in his anatomy.  
Harry was on the verge of completely freaking out when a disembodied voice suddenly rang out from all around him.

"At ease, newcomer. Your body is just adjusting to its new environment, that's completely normal, try to relax, watch the wonderful display of colours, it will be over soon," the voice said in a calm and soothing tone, which felt the same way phoenix song usually did.

"What's happening to me?" Harry called out frantically; he was too freaked out to relax.

"Relax, son. It will all be over soon. Your soul is just shedding the last remains of its former imprisonment," the voice said again in the same calm tone.

"My body was a prison for my soul?" Harry asked in surprise.

"No!" the voice said loudly, then quieted down again. "Bad choice of words. What I should have said was that your body was a temporary holder of that which is most precious to you, there is a difference," the voice corrected.

"A soul is not meant to be imprisoned, it's the worst crime which can be committed…only the devil or his dementors are mean enough to do that…but then again, that's why we call the devil, the devil," the voice said.  
"The Dementors aren't the most despicable and feared creatures without a reason you know," he added.

"So, what you're saying is my body…no…my soul is removing itself from my former self," Harry said in an attempt to calm down.

"Correct, that's one way you could say it," the voice answered.

"I see," Harry said, though he wasn't really, "So how long does this trip…this process last?" he asked

"Not long now, the transformation is nearly complete, see, you are beginning to glow and to become semi-transparent…that's the last stage of the transformation…see… there, you're finished," the voice answered.

Sure enough, just as the voice finished those last few words, the colours faded and Harry came to a complete stop.  
Harry was now in what appeared to be a giant hall, and in this hall was a huge stand which was filled with countless people…no, beings.  
Just the sight of all of these beings was enough to make Harry feel dizzy.

"You may leave now, warden, and thank you," a kind and warm voice said from the middle of the stand.

"Thank you, your Holiness," the voice called out and then all was quiet.


	4. Training In Heaven And Hell

**Harry Potter**  
**Lord Of Light And Darkness**

**Book1**  
**Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 4**  
**Training In Heaven and Hell**

* * *

**Disclaimer:As before I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter.****  
**  
**Beta'd by: RPMcMurphy (Primary Beta) and Clara Minutes from 'Perfect Imagination'**

* * *

Harry took the next moment to look around.  
The beings seated in the stands were all staring down at him with great interest.

All seemed to have the same transparent, glowing body that he had, though some were different colours and others again were brighter.  
One of these beings, who Harry recognised as the one who had spoken beforehand, was completely engulfed with blinding white light, which made it very difficult to see clearly. In fact, Harry had difficulty seeing much at all.

Around this being were multiple smaller white creatures with wings, which somehow reminded Harry of a creature he had only seen once before, and that was in a Muggle children's story book…or a … what was that book Muggles read from… or rather one particular Muggle read from.

The Dursleys used to go to something they called Mass, but Harry was never allowed to attend. His uncle always claimed he would disturb everybody else somehow with his freakishness.

"Angel, Harry," the being said with the same kind, gentle voice as before.

"Pardon?" Harry asked, as he was suddenly brought back to reality.

"They are called Angels, Harry," the being repeated.

"They are Ang… Oh… right," Harry said, realising what the being was talking about.

"But, but, that means… that means…doesn't that mean…you… you…." Harry couldn't bring himself to say the rest, as words totally failed him.

"Yes, Harry, that's right, I am," the being said warmly.

Harry promptly fainted.

* * *

"Overkill," another voice said as a few Angels carried Harry's ethereal body into another room.

"You know what affect you have on others," the same voice admonished.

"Please, I know, but there is nothing special about me… really," the kind voice replied.

"Yeah right, and I'm the Devil's concubine," the other voice said sarcastically.

"My dear friend, how long have we known each other?" the first voice asked.

"Oh, er… I don't know… can't really say… a very long time," the other being answered. "Longer than anybody here can remember."

"And in all of this time, have I ever expressed any wishes to be treated differently to anybody else?" the first voice asked.

"No, you haven't," the second voice replied uncomfortably.

"Please, you don't have to feel uncomfortable about that," the first voice said.

"But you're God, you're the Alpha, Omega, you… you can be anybody or do anything you want," the second voice said loudly.

"Enough, let's debate this another time; I sense young Harry has just woken up again. Could you please bring him in, Gabriel?" God asked one of the Angels, who happened to be standing near by.

"Of course, it shall be a pleasure," the Archangel answered, and with a flash he was gone.

A minute later, Harry walked back into the chamber followed by the Angel.

"Ah, Harry, welcome back, sorry about that earlier on, I have a tendency to forget the affect I have on certain new arrivals," God said gently with a benign smile.

"So, you're really God?" Harry asked, amazed and greatly intimidated. He still could not see the being's face, or the rest of its body clearly. In fact, he could not even figure out what gender the being --God -- had. Not even the voice gave away a sign.

"Excuse me, may I ask you something?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Of course you may, and the answer is I am neither: not male, nor female," God answered.

"Yes, he's something more," another voice from the stands called out haughtily.

"Fate, that's enough!" God boomed, which caused several beings, including Harry, to jump with fright.

"Sorry!"

"Contrary to the myth that I can't get angry, I regret to say that I can," God answered, looking back at Harry. It was clear from the way God said this that the almighty being was not used to becoming angry and definitely not for something as trivial as this.

"Now, I think it's time the meeting began… speaker, if you will!" God called out, motioning towards a raised area in front of the stands, a statement which received quite a lot of approving, though slightly humbled, mumbles from everybody around.  
God's brief outcry had clearly unnerved many of them.

From the left side of the stands, a familiar figure, which Harry had seen somewhere before, though he could not place where, stood up to walk to the raised podium.

Numerous eyes followed him as he approached and some even pointed him out with excited whispers.

"Dear gentle spirits and other gentles alike," he began, taking a moment to slowly turn his head to look all around the chamber. "Please bear with me for just a moment, this shouldn't really take long. I know you're all eager to get back to all of your extended families, and other… activities, so I promise I'll try to keep this short.

"As you all know, last century we had a debate whether or not to send a particular deceased, named Harry James Potter, who is with us today, back down to earth. At first, the issue was met with a substantial amount of opposition, which also included the Holiness, God… rather regretful, but not very surprising I may add.

"However, after a few long discussions, the council finally agreed to allow said deceased the choice to return to earth to finish what he had so valiantly started, namely the defeat of that evil dark tosspot who calls himself a lord… Voldemort."

For the first time as far as Harry could remember, nobody gasped or made involuntary noises or movements as Voldemort's name rang throughout the hall, though some had faces of disgust and sorrow.

Nobody laughed as Voldemort's nickname was uttered. The fact that everybody was able to hear and say Voldemort's name so freely, without the slightest sign of fear, surprised him. Not only were they not afraid of the Dark Lord, they also made fun of him too. Here were beings who clearly showed Tom little or no respect at all.

Suddenly, the speaker turned straight towards him.

"I will now ask the deceased whether he is willing to take on this worthy task."

"Lord Harriot James Potter-Gryffindor-Ambrosius-Black, heir of the houses Potter, Black, Gryffindor, and Ambrosius… do you accept said mission, to hunt down several key Death Eaters in service of Moldywarts as well as the ugly wart himself, and to rid us of this monstrosity, so help us all?" Godric asked, earning a disapproving frown from God, but a few sniggers and giggles from a few other beings around him.

Harry gasped, while others laughed and gaped at Godric. For a second Harry just stood still with his mouth open before he realised that he had been asked a question. The sheer amount of titles, and their names, not to forget the crude, indignant version of Voldemort's name, made his head spin.

"Yes, I do," Harry said after a while. He could not believe that he, Harry Potter, was the last descendent of not only Godric, but also Merlin.

_So I'm the heir of Gryffindor… not only Gryffindor's but Merlin's heir too,_ Harry realised, dazed as it finally sunk in.

Oblivious to Harry's thoughts, Godric continued to speak.

"In that case, dear gentle spirits and others alike, I deem the motion passed."

As soon as Godric finished his little speech, the whole chamber erupted into great cheers.

Silently God rose from its seat and made Its way over to the stand, which Godric quickly vacated. Immediately the whole chamber became deathly silent.

"Thank you, Godric, though do please refrain from using… special names," God said, nodding towards the old wizened spirit.

"Alright! In accordance with what was said today and by the wishes of the council, I herewith endorse the revitalising and consequential rebirth of newly deceased Harry Potter and regrettably sanction the hunt and execution of three Death Eaters and Dark Lord also known as Lord Voldemort.

"However! … let it be said that I do not willingly agree with this and only endorse it as per the will of the grand council and the greater good. As such I will leave the council chamber in protest.

"However, as before, the needs and wishes of the many out weigh the needs and wishes of the one… so be it… thank you."

With these last words, God left the podium and made Its way out of the chamber. The angels followed shortly after.

The room stayed silent in a state of mild shock. Only one being who had entered the chamber during God's speech seemed remotely happy and was clapping cheerfully.

Harry realised that everybody seemed to get up and frantically move to a different area of the chamber as the new arrival came his, her, or its way.

After several minutes of quietness and serious contemplation, another being rose and walked to the podium. Immediately all eyes turned to face him.

"Right… hmmm… ok…" he said awkwardly, then took a deep breath. "Since we now have official yet reluctant permission, let's get down to business, shall we?" he asked after another moment of complete silence.

"It has been agreed upon that Harry here should receive certain formal training."

Hearing this, Harry turned his full attention to the new speaker.

"I hereby ask for a few volunteers to come forward to train Harry Potter for his upcoming mission… we only have one chance, so let's not mess it up."

"Is anybody willing?" he asked again. His voice sounded proud yet extremely solemn.

The room remained silent. Nobody seemed to have the courage or the desire to train the small, skinny saviour in front of him or her.

"Is there nobody at all," the speaker asked again calmly.

Still silence echoed through the hall.

Harry was about to despair when out of the blue, the being who everybody was avoiding started to speak.

"Well, well, well, isn't that a sight, ho ho ho," he said laughing.

"Tell you what, I'll train you, Harry," the being proposed, which made the whole chamber gasp in complete horror.

All of a sudden the whole chamber erupted into an angry mob of screaming lunatics.

"No way will you teach Harry Potter, go back to Hell where you belong," an outraged voice said from the crowd as several chairs flew through the air.

"Yes, what are you even doing here, Satan," another voice called out.

"Get out of here," a third voice spoke.

"SILENCE!!" a very angry voice rang out, and immediately everybody hushed and tensed up. Some had faces of worry, others even expressions of fear on their faces.

Looking around, Harry realised that God had re-entered the room. The blinding white glow had disappeared and for the first time Harry could see a very ancient, wrinkled figure with a transparent beard, which touched the ground in layers. Slowly the glow came back again and everybody relaxed.

Little did Harry know, the last time God lost control of Its anger was when the Dark Ages reigned down on earth… and before that, when a meteor wiped out ninety-nine percent of the population, resulting in the Stone Age.

There was plenty of cause to be worried, as far as the council was concerned. True, it was extremely rare for God to get 'really' angry… angry enough to cause such a situation, but…

With a small sigh, God walked into the middle of the room and turned to face Satan.

"I'll keep this short, Satan."

"Yes," the devil answered, raising his eyebrows in response. Even he seemed slightly nervous.

"As much as it pains me to say this, I want you to take over the Dark Arts training while Harry is amongst us. Will you do it?" God asked with sorrow in Its voice.

A huge smile appeared across the Devil's face, which quickly increased into a full-fledged evil, sadistic grin.

"Of course I will. Let's say, it would be an honour," he replied and a laugh escaped from his mouth.

Several beings looked nervously at each other, others had faces of worry while others again had faces of complete outrage as Satan began to laugh.

"I have a certain phoenix to pluck with an old mag… er… wizard down there. I would be happy to train Harry if that means that he will show up here sooner or later. Nobody escapes from my realm, not even a dark nut called Mouldyfarts," he said with a small evil chuckle.

"Though I'll tell you now, don't expect me to go easy on the lad. Before I'm done with him, he'll be screaming for mercy," Satan said with another laugh.

Cringing slightly, and not just due to the name Satan had just given Voldemort, but also due to the knowledge that an innocent soul was about to be sent to Hell, no pun intended, God gave a small weak nod. "Very well, I guess that will have to do, I wish you to start as soon as Harry is ready.

"I'd say thank you but I know how much you hate that word, so… I'll see you."

With that, God left without another word.

The whole chamber was silent, deathly silent: a few were in complete shock, others in denial. Only the devil seemed to be rubbing his hands happily, making small sounds of sadistic glee. It had been quite a while since he had had an apprentice of any sort to corrupt, order, and maim.

"You know where to find me," he said to Harry after a while. "I'll see you down there, when you're finished with your training… with them," he said, glancing at the rest of the occupants of the chamber with a look of evident repugnance while at the same time pointing a blackened mouldy finger downwards. Then, without another word he disappeared with a loud crack, like thunder originating beside you, which shook the room, a long loud cackle echoing behind him.

It took several minutes for everybody else to quiet down again in such a way that the meeting could continue.

"Ahem, well, hmm, ok… well… that was unpleasant," the being who had first asked for volunteers said.

"I'm really sorry, Harry, I'm sure none of us here wanted that to happen," he said, looking at Harry with great sympathy.

The whole room agreed with a low murmur, which made Harry wonder what mess he had gotten himself into this time.

"Anyway… we now have a… 'volunteer'… who is willing to teach the Dark Arts… and certain other things of which I will not utter here," the being said with disdain.

With a sigh he continued to speak. "Now, we still need someone who will teach him spells of the light. I nominate myself…Someone has to cancel out some of the damage Satan will do to the poor boy."

Looking directly at Harry, the being said, "Harry, I, Merlin the great, tenth heir of Ambrosias, humbly pledge myself and my skills to you.

"May I have the honour of instructing you in the ways of the light?" he asked, looking straight into Harry's green Avada Kedavra eyes.

"Er…yes, of course," Harry said, taken aback. Many wizards and witches would have given their first born to be taught by Merlin. This was indeed an honour.

"In that case, I, Godric Gryffindor, solemnly ask for the same honour," Godric said as he too took a step forward.

"And so will I," said a familiar voice, and Sirius stepped through the chamber doors.

Harry's eyes widened with surprise.

"I changed my mind. I know I said I wouldn't see you again, so sue me," Sirius said with a grin.

Harry launched himself into his godfather's arms.

"And so will we," said two other familiar voices in unison, and Harry froze.

"Mum, Dad?" he asked as he looked up hesitantly to see his parents standing nearby.

Without another word, Harry released Sirius and ran over to his parents, tears of pure happiness falling from his eyes.

Two days later Harry was deep in training.

Godric, Merlin, James, Lily, and Sirius (Dumbledore didn't join them as he still had some heavenly forms and registration papers to fill out, which Harry was able to skip due to his age and the fact that he wasn't staying anyway) had all made it clear from the word go that they were going to train him until his ethereal toes fell off, literally.  
At first, Harry did not take them seriously and he laughed, but he soon wished he had not.

Needless to say, he soon found out why it was so easy to get a replacement of a random body part.

According to Sirius, people in Heaven could decide whether they wanted to do something, unlike in Hell where you had no choice, as the Devil made all the rules. However, when they did something, they did it, all or nothing (well, most of them anyway.)

This made Harry wonder what Hell would be like, and he shivered at the thought.  
He never heard his father reprimanding Sirius for telling him a blatant lie.

Sirius, however, shrugged it off and quietly reminded James that what he had said about Hell was true for all they knew, and that Harry needed to be prepared… for anything. That shut James up and he grudgingly agreed. While neither had ever been in Hell before, the word and it's meaning were more than enough for either of them.

When his teachers, or Masters, as they now wanted to be called, told him that his toes would soon be falling off they weren't joking, they meant it, and Harry's laughs only made them drive him harder from one exercise to the next.

After the first week of training in Heaven, Harry was forced to do training rituals, which he would not have dreamt about in a million years.

Sirius just laughed at that when Harry mentioned it to him and told him that in the After-Life a million years was like a Sunday walk in a park, meaning non-existent.

Soon the physical exercises decreased and Harry began to learn various spells of the light.

Harry did ask them why he had to do physical exercises, as he did not have a real body.

His masters answered that it did not matter, that it was part of the deal…and that if it made him feel better, he would receive a respectable level of fitness, equal to the amount of effort he put into it here, once he went back down to earth. Harry grudgingly agreed.

At first his masters went over his entire Hogwarts curriculum from everything he learned in his first year up to what he would have learned in his seventh year.

For the first few days Harry didn't pay too much attention, as he already knew all the spells and the theory behind them. This stopped, however, when his teachers, began to throw in a few trick questions, and when they started to hex him whenever he answered a question wrongly.

When Harry complained that he already knew everything, they just gave him extra work, which quickly made Harry shut up and concentrate on what he already had to do.

Once in a while, certain visitors from different parts of Heaven would come to watch and give bits of advice.

Sometimes bets were held to decide when Harry would crack under the strain of the exercises, and there were huge odds against Harry, as Heaven's resident Goblin bookies traded favours as well as 'Truths and Dares' instead of Galleons and Sickles amongst its gambling residents. God seemed to turn a blind eye at this.

However, oblivious to everything happening around him, Harry somehow always managed to come out on top, much to certain individual's disappointments, no matter how difficult the drill, lessons, and exercises became.

In one such lesson, James made Harry run a marathon before duelling with him for the rest of the day, after which an absolutely exhausted (James had given Harry his feelings over his muscles back again) Harry vowed to never accept any help from his parents or close relatives ever again, whenever he was finished here.

Sirius and James took turns in teaching Harry numerous spells ranging from harmless but useful light spells to deadly and usually illegal semi Dark spells which, while not as deadly as the Unforgivables, would still all earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban had you used it on earth, at least after the Ministry had banned them.

When Harry mastered the spells verbally, they continued on to nonverbal spells and from there on to verbal wandless magic, and finally on to nonverbal wandless magic.

In the end, Harry could do all of the simple spells wandlessly and only needed his wand for the most advanced spell and those which you couldn't perform without a wand.

Sometimes Lily would join them and participate in a few duels with Harry whenever Sirius and James needed an extra partner, or when they were otherwise unavailable.

Most of the time, however, she concentrated on teaching Harry how to create and remove wards from numerous objects. Lily had been an excellent warder in her time on earth.

In fact, it was widely known that she had warded Gringotts and other famous places.

Godric concentrated on teaching Harry how to fight with numerous weapons ranging from a simple penknife to a two-sided sword, which was very difficult to handle and with which Harry constantly cut himself.

In one duel, Godric managed to cut off all of Harry's arms and legs before summoning a few forms, which he then proceeded to fill out for Harry so that he could get his random body parts replaced.

Harry had never been happier that he was not able to feel pain. (Obviously Godric had disabled Harry's new feelings prior to this exercise.)

Finally, yet importantly, Merlin started to teach him the arts Legilimency and Occlumency, and was not satisfied until Harry could not only literally block off an invader in a split second, but could also send back a 'feedback' through the open link, which could give the invader a severe headache as well as inflict brutal pain. In serious cases memory loss, unconsciousness, or even death could occur.

As well as blocking people from his mind, Harry would also be able to practically read other people like a book, though eye contact was still needed for certain information, or if the target was skilled in Occlumency. Even then, success was not always guaranteed.

Merlin would have started teaching Harry how to become an Animagus, but for some reason Satan specifically forbade him to do so.

Instead, he took some time to go over parts of Harry's other subjects with him, placing an emphasis on Potions.

* * *

Finally, after a good year, the day finally came when Satan arrived and took Harry away, down into the depths of Hell.

Harry had never been as frightened or as nervous before. The stories he had heard had only caused him to become more and more nervous, though it must be said that none of those who had told him about Hell had ever been there.

If Harry had thought that his parents or Sirius's training had been bad, he quickly changed his mind: Hell, was just as the name said… Hell.

Satan never gave him much rest… he did not give him any rest at all, saying rest was a luxury Harry did not deserve. Even Uncle Vernon had never said that.

He constantly taunted and abused Harry, continuously firing hexes and other nasty spells at him, no matter what he did. With his feeling restored, (It was the first thing Satan did when they arrived) they were not only extremely painful but also exceedingly annoying.

In the end, Harry was wishing for his time with the Dursleys, daily.

_Anything is better than this_, he thought after a particularly stressful and exhausting experience where Satan made him carry several pounds worth of rocks up a mountain only to tell him to bring them down again later on. The loads were so heavy that Harry regularly collapsed while ascending the mountain.

Harry frequently asked himself how his body could survive this brutal treatment, and each time he remembered that he did not have a body at present. The pain he was experiencing was just part of the deal.

The horror stories about Hell, which Harry had heard in Heaven, had long been justified, ten times over. At least when he told them, he would have the memories and other evidence to back up his claims.

Harry had to do this everyday for an entire month, and Satan would increase his load before he could grow accustomed to it. Satan seemed to enjoy torturing Harry in any and every way, but then again, that was Satan. To top it all off, Satan really took pleasure in following Harry up the mountain, cracking a whip every few seconds.

At least Harry now had no reason to be afraid of the Cruciatus Curse, once he got back to earth.

Before long he was finally satisfied and only then did he let Harry off, claiming that he didn't have endless time to train worthless manure (nicer term), like him, for which Harry was extremely grateful.

Finally, after long months of learning Dark spells and other 'questionable' subjects as well as some elemental training, (Harry found out he had inherited some elemental powers, namely those of Fire and Air from Merlin, though they had stayed dormant due to his abuse at the hands of the Dursley's, he could now create tornadoes, bolts of lightening from his hands, manipulate fire, as well as walk through fire and cast huge fireballs), Satan started teaching Harry his own brand of magic. In all of this time the punishments… and the pain…never ceased.

This included certain long forgotten spells, most of which Harry vowed he would never use, save perhaps on Voldemort himself. Some spells however, Harry found very interesting and even highly amusing, much to Satan's surprise.

With only four months of ethereal training time left, Satan explained to Harry why he did not allow Merlin to teach him the art of the Animagus.

Satan claimed that what he was about to teach Harry could only be taught to someone who did not know how to transform into an Animagus, as both were completely incompatible and only made it more difficult to learn or use the other.

Satan called it the art of shape shifting and it needed an immense amount of self-control.

When Harry asked what he would be able to do, Satan explained the art with a few simple words:

"The insanely difficult art of shape shifting is literally the ability to change into any object or living creation, whether it be animated or unanimated, solid or liquid… in short, anything."

This completely overwhelmed Harry and made him cry out in surprise. With this ability, he would be practically invincible, he thought.

However, Satan knew directly what Harry was thinking and he quickly told him that as with everything, there were certain side effects, the first one being that Harry would not be able to do other magic during and for at least one minute after transforming. Obsessive use of this ability would leave him severely weakened and may even result in a magical coma, though he admitted that overuse varied from wizard to wizard.

Satan also warned him that he should never be transformed longer than a maximum of two hours, otherwise certain memory loss or permanent transformation into the creature or item in question could occur.

That, put together with the fact that a transformation was always very painful, made it look much less welcoming. Harry was quickly brought back to his senses, as he did not like the idea of turning into a cup permanently, and he solemnly vowed to only use his new ability sparingly, once he had learned it.

Satan also taught Harry the old long-forgotten arts of Teleportation and Phasing. Teleportation was similar to Apparition. Though much more dangerous, it would enable him to teleport through all but the strongest wards.

When Harry asked what type of wards he would not be able to teleport though, Satan answered with blood wards or grade nine true wards, which made Harry realise for the first time just how safe he had been at the Dursleys, though he quickly squashed the idea after a certain image of fifteen Death Eaters and a Dark Lord swam into his mind.

They had not helped him then, had they, he reminded himself.

Phasing in and out, Satan had said, was the ability to temporarily leave the physical world and enter a state of flux where the phased, could not be hit by any spells, weapons or items, and where the individual could also move through walls and other solid objects.

The side effects were serious, as phasing was very dangerous: any mistakes were normally fatal, and while in 'flux' he could not do other magic or touch objects.

Harry agreed, the idea of returning to the normal world inside a solid wall was not a good one, though if he could master the art, he could be practically unstoppable as while in flux, spells could not hit him.

Finally, yet importantly, Satan demonstrated how to summon some low classes of undead, such as skeletons, and certain low class demons, which Harry found very interesting, but also very unpredictable, as the summoned creatures had no real minds of their own and were inclined to attack anything in sight, master or foe. On the other hand, the undead do not feel pain, they always obey orders, if badly, and they do not stop fighting if a random body part falls off. The demons were clever but had the unfortunate tendency to rebel against their master, and were therefore not really recommended.

In the end, Harry decided to only use them in enclosed areas where they would not be able to easily turn on him, or as a last possible resort, should the need for some extra muscle ever arise.

* * *

At long last, after two full years of back-breaking and body part-replacing training and many spells later, Harry's time in Heaven and Hell had come to an end.  
Harry was standing in front of his parents and his other masters, saying his last goodbyes.  
Even Satan was present, much to everybody else's disgust, though strangely enough Harry had become quite close to the despicable creature. It had been surprisingly easy once Satan's 'pain treatments' had begun to ease their effects on him.

Then Harry suddenly saw the ethereal forms of two people whom he had not seen for at least two years. He quickly excused himself from his escorts and ran over to his two old friends.

"Ron, Hermione," he called out, after he got close enough for them to hear.

They immediately turned around. Hermione squealed with delight, while Ron just stood back and watched with open eyes.

"My… mate what have you been doing here, you look… different," he asked after a study of Harry's evident muscles and otherwise stunning body.

"Yeah, I know, a year in Hell can do that to you," said Harry with a smile.

Hermione gasped as she heard this.  
"Oh… Harry, I'm so sorry… whatever you were doing in Hell, it must have been awful," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah… mate what were you doing down there, actually what are you doing up here at all?" Ron asked, frowning.

"Did Mouldy finally kill you off too?" Ron said jokingly, using Heaven's preferred version of Voldemort's name.

Harry looked at Ron strangely. "You didn't tell him?" he asked Hermione, after realising that Ron really didn't know.

"No Harry, I… I didn't even know you were here," Hermione said quietly, still shaking from hearing that Harry had been in Hell.

"What! Did no one tell you?" Harry asked, surprised.

"No, nobody did and after you didn't arrive after they… after I died, I thought you had somehow managed to survive," Hermione said sadly, shuddering at her memories of her last few moments on earth.

"Well, I didn't survive, in fact I blew the whole block up," Harry said, which made Hermione squeal again and Ron reach out to close her gaping mouth. Both were in shock.

"Gee mate, its no wonder why we had so many new arrivals here from the Surrey area that day, you really know how to go out with a bang, don't you?" Ron asked, impressed.

"Yeah, but that's not all," Harry answered with a wicked smile on his face, which made his friends look at him in alarm.

"Guess what, I have a return ticket back to earth," Harry said, which caused Hermione to look confused and Ron say, "No way."

"How did you, how is that possible?" Hermione asked, giving Harry a strange look, which made it clear that she didn't believe a word Harry had just said.

"Well, you see, God… himself… no herself… no… oh I don't know… anyway…God sanctioned my return back to earth, in fact I'm leaving in a few minutes… we were lucky to meet as it is," he said awkwardly, then he suddenly realised.

"Hey guys, I just realised, if everything works out as planned, you, and quite a few others, including Sirius and even my parents, could be back down there again soon," he said excitedly.

This really was news for his friends, who practically jumped with joy.

"I… I can't believe it," Hermione cried out, "How in Heaven and Hell did you manage to obtain permission from God to go back… that's… that's unheard off… the last time that happened was… " she paused.

"Yes Mione," Ron said with a grin.

"Actually I don't know," she said, stunned, clearly shocked by the revelation that she didn't know something

"I know," Harry said cheekily, "but as Snape… and Sirius used to say, the normal rules don't seem to apply for me," Harry added with his best imitation of Snape and a huge grin on his face, causing Hermione and Ron to laugh.

At that moment, James and Lily stepped up behind them.

"Hello everybody, I hope we are not disturbing something important, but Harry here has a one way express ticket back to earth, which is waiting for him," James said wisely.

Ron and Hermione just answered: "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

"What! You knew about them and didn't tell them about me?" Harry asked, aghast.

"No Harry, we didn't… you really didn't need the extra attention," James answered, smiling.

"Eww you sounded just like Snape," Harry said in annoyance, but he also had a smile on his face.

"No I don't," James answered, in mock horror at the revelation.

"Anyway, back to reality," Lily intervened, "You shouldn't keep a few poor people waiting longer then you have to, I'm sure quite a few individuals, including ourselves, are quite eager to get back down there once this is all over. After all, we have a lot of catching up to do," Lily said pleasantly with a wink.

"I'll have to send off tax reports for the last sixteen years," James moaned, sighing loudly.

"Oh, right… yes," Harry said sheepishly.

"Okay guys, I'll see you back down there, hopefully," Harry said as his parents started to lead him away.

"You may stay right where you are," said a gentle warm voice, which belonged to none other than God, who was followed closely by Satan.

Hermione put her hand to her mouth, gasped, and nearly fainted as she realised who had just arrived.

"Oh my God," she said out loud, before she could stop herself.

"Yes, that's me," God said and gave her a small smile.

Ron just stood still, too shocked to move.

"Are you ready to go?" God asked Harry, as God turned back to face him.

"Er yes… I think so," Harry said after giving his friends and his parents a last look and a final hug of farewell.

"All right, hang on," God said, and without another word God reached down and grabbed a cloud beneath Harry's feet, creating a small hole by pulling the cloud away as if it were a carpet, and with all the grace of a drunken one-legged ostrich and a cry of surprise, Harry began to fall.

"Oh by the way, I have a little present for you down there. You'll know it when you see it," God said loudly as Harry fell.

"And don't forget the money spell… you won't have access to your vaults," James added.

"We love you," said Lily.

"Bye Harry…see you soon," Hermione and Ron chorused.

"Go and good luck… my apprentice," said Satan just before everything went dark.

Harry never heard the cries of complete shock from his friends, a faint groan from God, and a small chuckle from Satan.

Harry was on his way back at last.


	5. Diagon Alley

**Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 5 **

**Diagon Alley**

* * *

**Disclaimer: Yes, sadly it's true. I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter. Wish I did though.**

**Beta'd by: RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination  
**

* * *

Harry was falling, falling downwards, and he didn't know where.  
With a sense of awe and trepidation, he observed as his skin started to reform where his shiny ethereal body had once been. 

Just when he was about to question how he was supposed to survive a fall of this magnitude, everything around him started to go black.

Slowly, Harry stopped falling and somehow he automatically righted himself.  
He felt his feet softly connect with a hard surface and he wondered if he had arrived.

Then, just as suddenly, his sight came back to him and finally he was able to see where he had landed.  
Quickly Summoning and putting on some Muggle clothes, seeing that he was in fact naked, Harry took his first look around.

For the first time in two years he took a deep breath. He needed a few minutes to get used to it again, as he had nearly forgotten how to breathe.  
Luckily his body's automatic reflexes knew when to remind him about it.  
For the next few minutes he observed his surroundings, simply enjoying the feeling of being alive again.

Taking a good look around, he noticed that he had landed inside a park near where number four Privet Drive stood, back in its former glory, only approximately twenty-four years in the past and without the oppressive presence of the Dursleys.  
Petunia, after all, would still have been in school and would probably not have met Vernon yet, and Dudley didn't even exist.

Somewhere, someplace, Harry realised his seventeen year old parents were still alive, just about to start their seventh year at Hogwarts.  
Knowing this gave Harry a warm joyful feeling.

Harry wasn't afraid that someone might have seen him. In fact, he was fairly sure that no one had. Instead, Harry tried to remember facts about this timeline.

London had been the same around twenty-four years ago as in Harry's timeline, well with a few changes: this timeline had newer houses, different people (usually younger), outdated technology (though new here), but on the whole it was still the same.

Harry wouldn't really need Muggle money since he was a wizard. He didn't even have to worry about wizarding money.  
During his time in Heaven, he had learned a useful money spell.

This spell was usually illegal, and since only high Ministry officials and certain goblins who were in charge of making money were supposed to know about them, Harry would never have to worry about money ever again.  
Not that he ever had to worry about money before, but this way was better, much better, and it suited him perfectly.

All he had to do was hold open his hand, or bag, and say the spell and immediately his hand or the bag would fill up with Galleons: nice and simple, with no hassle involved.

_As long as no one sees this, I should be just fine_, Harry thought as he wandlessly filled his pockets with Galleons, making doubly sure that no one noticed.  
Slowly, casually, Harry made his way down the street and held out his right wand hand.

He wasn't in a hurry. Hogwarts wasn't due to start for another week, so he had plenty of time to buy everything he needed and enrol himself into the school.

For a few minutes Harry considered becoming a professor, but he decided against it. He wanted to spend some time and be close to his parents and being a professor would only hinder that. Besides, while he would be able to fake it easily due to his skill and abilities, he wasn't even of age yet.

Harry wanted to keep his abilities secret for as long as possible, not that the Ministry could track him for any underage magic; at the moment they didn't even know he existed. He didn't even have a wand, so they wouldn't be able to anyway.

An older version of the Knight Bus arrived with the familiar bang that Harry knew so well and came to a stop right beside him.  
A small man in the familiar pink uniform of the Knight Bus stepped out and began to recite the usual Knight Bus greeting.  
Harry realised with a pang that Stan Shunpike was still at school and that he had not even applied for the job yet.

Slowly, Harry stepped onto the bus. Seeing that Harry had no luggage, the man stepped in behind him.

"Where to?" he asked

"Oh…er…the Leaky Cauldron," Harry said just before he paid the usual eleven Sickles. For some reason the price hadn't changed in the last twenty-four years. Wizards didn't seem to have a lot of inflation, Harry assumed.

"Right oh, hang on, you're in for a bumpy ride," the man said, handing Harry his ticket.

_Do they always say that?_ Harry wondered as the bus sped off with a bang.

The journey was just as normal as Harry remembered it to be, described by one word: awful.  
The bus constantly changed speed and swerved in and out and swayed from side to side. Twice it even came to a complete stop with such force that Harry fell flat on his face.

_If anybody should take a Muggle driving test, it's these guys_, Harry thought angrily as the bus sped off again. _And where are those bloody seat belts,_ Harry asked himself, just as he was surprised again when the bus braked hastily, twirling around 180 degrees at the same time, making him slide to the back of the bus and hit his head off the rear window, instead of the front, as would have been expected as the norm when braking. Not that he cared; it was painful either way.

At last the bus arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, and Harry stepped off.  
Steadying himself until he stopped spinning and at the same time nursing a few bumps and bruises, Harry entered the old pub and was greeted by a familiar sight.

Just like in his own time, the pub was busy, but this time it was busier… and much happier than usual.

_Of course, Voldemort hasn't fully risen to power yet_, Harry thought as he made his way to the counter.

Standing there, behind the counter with his usual friendly face, was Tom. Tom was just like Harry remembered him, though twenty odd years younger.

"Hello, can I help you, young sir? Can I offer you a butterbeer, perhaps?" Tom asked Harry pleasantly.  
Harry realised that at this time he wore a much wider grin and was much more cheerful.

"I'll have a room, if it's free, and yes, I'll also have a butterbeer," Harry said, passing Tom a few Galleons, which Tom gladly took.

Harry had never been as happy before for a drink. It had been years since he had had his last sup of the good stuff. He was definitely going to savour this one. No one, not even his former master could stop him this time, Voldemort or Satan be damned.

"Sure, room eleven is free at the moment, how long are you staying?" Tom asked as he started to fill a mug.

"Just for a week," Harry answered, taking the beer from Tom. "I'm here on some special business and I have some shopping to take care of."

"I'll pay for the week in advance," Harry said, deliberately handing Tom a large tip in addition to the money for the room.

"Very well," Tom said, raising his eyebrows at the large tip. "I hope you enjoy your stay. If there is anything else I can do, please feel free to give me a shout, Mr…..?" Tom asked as he handed Harry his key.

"Harry P…ranger," Harry said, quickly changing to Hermione's surname, though it didn't come out right, "and will do," Harry replied, angry with himself for his near slip up.

"Pardon?" Tom said.

"Harry Granger," Harry answered.  
_How could I have forgotten to think up a new name_, Harry thought, hoping that Tom wouldn't ask any further questions.  
Luckily, Tom didn't seem to notice his discomfort, or maybe he just didn't care about it.

"Very well, Mr. Granger, I'll be here if you need me. Breakfast is served from seven to eleven every morning, evening meals are served from three to nine, room service is available around the clock, and if you have any questions or wishes please feel free to send us a few sparks," Tom said before he left to serve another customer.

Harry began to settle down and drink his beer. Suddenly he began to laugh.  
_I wonder what Hermione would say if she realised that I took her name…Probably would be happy to have such a magically advanced person in her family_, Harry thought merrily as he finished his beer.

* * *

At that moment, high above in the heavens, a bushy-haired girl was choking with pride, an enormous smile on her face as she watched Harry through a magical observation hole in the clouds.  
All around her, friends were thumping her on the back and congratulating her for the newest, if temporary, successful addition to her family. 

"Welcome to the family…brother," she said as she turned back to the game of ethereal poker she was currently playing.

_Maybe I can make you into an honorary member when this is all finished_, she mused.

_Now… how to win back that bra and shirt_, she thought as she pushed forward another stack of lemon drops that Dumbledore had supplied.

Across from her Ron was giddily twirling her bra in his hands.

_Today is a good day indeed_, he thought.

* * *

Back on earth, Harry was walking leisurely down Diagon Alley, looking at several windows as he walked by.  
For the first time as far as he could remember, he had no fear of being attacked by Voldemort or his Death Eaters. 

For the first time in his life nobody was staring at him like they normally would have done. In this world, in this time, he wasn't the Boy Who Lived, but just another everyday, normal wizard.  
This newfound freedom opened many new possibilities for him and he intended to keep it that way.

Slowly, Harry entered Madam Malkin's Robes 'n' Clothes.  
He was going to buy some Hogwarts school robes as well as a few other items.

Just as Madam Malkin was walking over to serve him, Harry remembered that he hadn't been Sorted. In fact, he hadn't even been enrolled into Hogwarts yet.

For a moment he froze. He didn't know what to do. In the end he decided to just buy the robes. Harry was sure that he was going to be accepted, he would see to that, and if he had to memory charm the headmaster, he didn't care. For years Dumbledore had been manipulative, it was only fair to pay him back for it.

"What can I get you?" Madam Malkin asked him.

"I'd like to get some Hogwarts robes…seventh year," Harry answered.

"Ah good, what house?" Malkin asked.

"None yet, I am only starting Hogwarts this year. I am transferring from America, Salem's Magical School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Harry lied before the shop owner could ask any questions.

"Oh well, in that case, welcome to England. I hope you will enjoy your year," Malkin answered pleasantly as she began to take Harry's measurements.

"Thanks, I will," Harry replied.

A short while later Harry had bought three pairs of Hogwarts school robes, two pairs of dress robes, and a few extras, which he thought he might need during the year. The price, a total of fifty Galleons three Sickles and seven Knuts, was indeed a generous one, but Harry paid without even blinking. He knew he had more money than God, literally, but then again, God didn't really need money in Heaven, Harry reminded himself.

_Maybe more money than Gringotts would do, _he mused.

Immediately after taking the money out of his pockets they started to refill themselves.

_Practical_, Harry thought as he left the shop, telling Madam Malkin to post his purchases to room eleven of the Leaky Cauldron.

The next thing on Harry's wish list was a trunk. He had realised during his time in Madam Malkin's that he wasn't going to be able to carry everything around with him once he left for Hogwarts, so he had to take care of that problem as soon as possible.

Harry entered Droves Magical Trunk shop and began to look around.  
He was looking for something large enough to hold all of his belongings as well as something secure enough to keep even the most profound curse breakers out.

Before entering the shop, Harry had filled up several bags with Galleons. He wisely thought that it would have looked strange if he had to continuously take more Galleons out of his pockets than they could possibly hold.  
A short time later a shop assistant came over to him to help.

It took a while, but Harry chose a trunk that kind of met his requirements.

It had enough room to hold equipment, but it wasn't as good on the security side as he would have hoped. Harry had momentarily forgotten that a few of the great security advances had only been made a few years ago in his own time; this, however, was twenty-four years earlier.

Still, it served its purpose, and with a few charms of his own, it would become the most impenetrable trunk in the world.  
Besides, Harry was happy with the special Weightlessness and Shrinking Charms which came with the trunk. He would be able to set the required weight of the trunk at any time.  
It would make the trunk light enough for him to carry no matter how much, or what, he put inside. The fact that there was also a hidden room, which could be used as a potions lab, in the trunk only made the decision easier.

Harry left 4000 Galleons lighter, with one of the most expensive and advanced trunks of its time, just about as much as he had in all of his bags combined.

After refilling his money bags, Harry made his way over to Davy Whittlespoon's Magical Menagerie, a pet for every home.  
Harry wanted to buy an owl, which he would use to send a letter to Dumbledore.

Harry knew Dumbledore was already the headmaster of Hogwarts at this time, which would help a lot as he still had to enrol himself into Hogwarts, and the faster he did that the better.

_Know thy enemies and thy allies like thyself_, he thought as he entered the shop.  
He left half an hour later with two familiars: an owl and a snake.

Harry figured that a snake would be a good tool to use for his 'executions' (He hated the word murders. Executions was a much more eloquent expression.) and it made a good pet as long as he kept it away from his owl.  
The fact that he could speak Parseltongue and that this type of snake would still be alive twenty years later when he got back to his own time was a bonus.

His owl, which he named Snowflake, was a rare snowy eagle owl, much like Hedwig had been, only slightly larger, more dangerous, and much more majestic, just the way he liked it. His snake was an 'Oxyuranus Microlepidotus' wizards' breed, an Inland Taipan, otherwise known as the Fierce Snake.

When Harry asked about this snake, the shop owner told him that, besides the Basilisk, it was the deadliest snake alive and that its bite could kill in seconds.

Hearing this, Harry's eyes lit up and his body shook slightly from anticipation.  
It felt thrilling to be the villain for once. The fact that he had to kill to do good made it even better.

"What's the difference between a Muggle type and a Wizarding type?" Harry had asked.

"A Wizarding type is usually much more poisonous than its Muggle counterpart, can grow to twice its size, even larger if it bonds, and it is usually very clever and totally loyal to its master, once it has bonded, that is," the shop owner had answered.

_Just like Salazar would have ordered_, Harry thought before he bought it, much to the shop owner's surprise, and later horror. Harry realised that his snake could become a full five to six meters in size once fully bonded... maybe even larger.

At first the shop owner didn't believe him, but when Harry spoke to the snake using Parseltongue, the poor man had grown extremely white and had even offered Harry a discount to get him out of the shop as quickly as possible.

Harry, while he didn't really care, had graciously accepted.

As soon as the snake touched Harry, it flashed a green colour, which extended up Harry's arm as the snake bonded itself to Harry. This was the last straw for the shop owner, who promptly fainted as it grew to twice its size. He never had the chance to extract the snake's poison.

Happy with his latest purchases, Harry left the shop with the snake hidden under his clothes and the owl in its cage, carried by his right hand, and made his way back to his room in the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

In a small room in the Ministry a light quill started to write on a piece of parchment. 

_**Dangerous Animal register**_

_**Whittlespoon's Magical Menagerie, Diagon Alley**_

_**One magical Oxyuranus Microlepidotus (fierce snake) bought by:**__ Unknown._

_**Name of snake: **__Unknown_

_**Condition of snake:**__ Unknown_

_**Venom level:**__ Unknown, presumed deadly_

_**Overall State:**__ Critical._

_**Next action:**__ check up recommended._

A lone Ministry official picked up the parchment and frowned.

Moving over to the Floo, she was just about to order an investigation when suddenly her mind went blank.

For a second she just stood there, disoriented, then shrugged. Sighing to herself, she walked back to her seat.

She never noticed a small piece of parchment glide out a near by window.

She never noticed a small flock of birds tear it apart.

She never noticed the remains blowing away in the wind.

She never noticed a white, translucent figure disappear into thin air.

Slowly, shaking her head, she sat down and started to write.

All was well… nearly.

* * *

A few days passed after Harry had sent his owl before he received a message inviting him to Hogwarts. 

With only three days left before the school year was supposed to start, Harry had become increasingly nervous and was about to make different plans to Apparate over and 'forcefully' alter a few minds, when an official Hogwarts owl flew through the open window.

Quickly relieving the owl of its burden, he began to read.

_**Dear Mr. Granger**_

_**I would be delighted to meet you tomorrow at 10.00, for a brief meeting followed by a theoretical and practical examination to decide your admission into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
Any questions concerning the school year that you may have will be answered at that point.  
If you have any problems or are otherwise unable to attend, please send an owl and I will try to arrange a different time for you before the start of the new school year. Otherwise, I will see you then.**_

_**Yours Sincerely,**_

_**Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore  
Headmaster of Hogwarts (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

Harry looked up from the letter with glee. He finally had a door open into Hogwarts, now all he had to do was step through.

* * *

On Tuesday at 9.50 sharp Harry teleported straight onto Hogwarts grounds, bypassed all of the wards, and appeared right in front of the main front door.  
He wasn't afraid of students seeing him, as classes hadn't started yet and teachers wouldn't be arriving for another day. 

Harry extended his hand and rapped on the door loudly three times.

After a minute or two the door opened and Harry looked straight into the eyes of a twenty-four year younger Filch.

"I'm Harry Gr…" Harry started to say before Filch cut him off.

"Ah yes, Harry Granger, the new student from abroad, so I heard," Filch said, frowning.  
"Well…don't just stand there… follow me, the headmaster is waiting for you," Filch said as he turned around to lead the way.

Filch, who was constantly grumbling about students wasting his precious time, lead Harry through the school right to the gargoyle guarding the portal which Harry knew lead to the Headmaster's office, his private library, and private sleeping quarters.  
The portal opened automatically as Harry and Filch arrived. Leaving Filch in the hallway, Harry stepped onto the first stair and the staircase began to rise.

Upon arriving at the door at the top he raised his hand to knock, but before he could, the familiar voice of his dead headmaster and mentor rang out.

"Please come in, Mr. Granger."

Taking a deep breath, Harry opened the door. _Let the show begin_, he thought as he stepped through, putting his Occlumency shields to maximum.

The moment Harry entered the office he felt the familiar sensation of someone trying to enter his mind.  
Frowning, not wanting anyone to read his mind, Harry kept his shields at maximum, however he didn't send a feedback through, as he didn't want to harm his old headmaster.

"Please don't," Harry said as he looked straight into his headmaster's eyes, which made them widen with surprise.

"I have a natural defence against people who like to…intrude…into other's minds," Harry said, which made Dumbledore stop immediately and look a little ashamed.

"Your attempts to gain entrance into my mind are absolutely futile, irrelevant, and a complete waste of our time," Harry said calmly a moment later.

"I'm sorry, it's a bad habit I picked up during the last war…I…never managed to lose it afterwards," Dumbledore answered.

"Impressive, by the way…have you always had this natural ability?" Dumbledore asked him, slightly unnerved by this mysterious new student, who seemed to be impervious to Legilimency.

"As far as I can remember, yes," Harry lied, smiling. He loved having one up over his old headmaster.

"Fascinating. Well then, shall we begin?" Dumbledore asked, motioning for Harry to take a seat in front of his desk, which Harry promptly took.

"Right then, how about a little chat first, then we can begin with a theory test and continue on to a practical test if I find you're good enough. Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly, offering Harry a tray.

"No thanks, I don't particularly like that brand, but if you have any in a different flavour I might just oblige," said Harry, knowing directly that Dumbledore only had lemon drops since he didn't like any other flavour. Or so he thought.

"Of course," said Dumbledore

"What? Er… I mean thanks," said Harry, blinking in surprise as he saw Dumbledore offer him another tray. Completely baffled, he took one.

_Since when_, he thought, trying to frantically remember if his Dumbledore ever took a different brand than his lemon drops.

"You seem surprised, I guess Filch told you about my obsession with lemon drops, poor fellow, it's his fault that I started on orange ones too," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes, "though I think I'll stop it soon. You see, I do prefer the lemon type," Dumbledore added with a smile.

_Well, you learn something every day…I'll have to remember that...Urg, much too sweet,_ Harry thought as he began to munch on the orange drop.

"Hmm, you seem to agree," said Dumbledore with a smile, a full twinkle in his eyes.

Dumbledore had a chat with Harry for a while, mainly asking him about his parents, relatives, and any interests he might have. For the question about his parents, Harry answered that he didn't have any anymore, which was true to a certain extent, since he wasn't even born yet.  
After all, he could hardly say that his parents were two students in the school who weren't even married and who had never even had a child.

A short while later, Dumbledore handed him a quill, some ink, and a thick role of parchment.

"It's now 11.00. I will give you a simple one hour exam for each core subject which you will be taking during your year, just so that I can get a general understanding of the level you're at, namely Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"After those are complete, I will also examine you in any extra choice subjects which you would like to take on during the year. You may choose from Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Muggle Studies, or Astronomy.

"Each exam will also be one hour long and you must choose at least two.

"Please understand that these exams are usually two to three hours, sometimes even four hours long, so I do not expect long answers.

"If I feel you're good enough, we will proceed to the practical tests the next day.

"If you wish, you may also take on two extra choice subjects which may help you in later life, although I will not be testing you in them. These are Advanced Charms, Advanced Potions, Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Dark Arts, Politics, Medical Magic, Muggle Medicine, and a special course which I have decided to try out and which will only be available this year, called Computers. This course will be held outside of Hogwarts in a special environment, as Muggle equipment does not work here.

"Which choice subjects would you like to take?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry thought for a few minute, then chose Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology. He took Care of Magical Creatures after remembering that Hagrid wasn't a teacher yet and that it would therefore be a lot safer. He also took it because he could now speak with animals, having learned the universal animal language in Heaven.

He was now not limited to Parseltongue anymore, though snakes did not always obey the common language, preferring Parseltongue instead, to which they were magically bound.  
Anybody speaking the common language could be ignored, but Parseltongue they could not.

Harry took Ancient Runes because he had to learn them during his time with Satan, for certain Dark spells and enchantments.

As for Herbology, well, he liked the subject and wanted at least some sort of a challenge this year since he already knew so much about the other subjects.

For his other choice subjects Harry chose Advanced Defence and Medical Magic, Defence, because he hoped that it might help him in his fight against Voldemort, and secondly, Medical Magic, to annoy Satan, who seemed to universally hate Healing Spells, well...at least those which didn't cause pain.

A total of nine subjects, the maximum which a diligent student could manage without using a Time Turner, impressed the headmaster.

"Any questions?" Dumbledore asked him after he had chosen.

"Er, no sir, I don't think so," Harry said, still a little overwhelmed by all the new information.

"Right so," Dumbledore said, handed Harry the first paper and conjuring a small feather. It was Transfiguration. "You may begin when the feather touches the ground."

Eight hours later (Harry had been allowed to take a one hour break after the first three hours), a happy Harry had finally finished all of his exams.  
He knew he flew through Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defence, and Ancient Runes as he had had plenty of practice in those subjects while in Heaven and Hell, and he was fairly sure that he did very well in the rest.

_All in all a very successful day,_ he thought when Dumbledore had Summoned his last exam.

"Right, I do believe that's all today, we will finish up tomorrow with the practicals… if you have done well enough in the written.

"Would you like to spend the night here?" he asked Harry.

"Oh, er no, sir. Thanks a lot though. I have two familiars back at the Leaky Cauldron which I have to attend to, so no, it's not possible," Harry said, faking an apologetic expression.  
He was looking forward for a good night's rest, away from potential mind readers who could learn of his secrets.

"Oh, by the way, that reminds me. I realise that students are only allowed to bring an owl, toad, cat or rat. However, I own a snake…would it be okay if I brought her along?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore thought for a while. "Is this one of your familiars?" he asked, studying Harry carefully.

"Yes," Harry answered, remembering the green flash earlier that day.

"I see… well, normally I wouldn't allow it, but since it won't be able to stay at home since you don't have any relatives or parents able to take care of it in your absence, and since it is a familiar, I will make an exception, but only because it's a special circumstance," Dumbledore answered sternly after a while.

"Thanks, sir," Harry said as he took some Floo powder from a small bag which Dumbledore had offered to him.

"I'll see you tomorrow at ten, same place, same time. You may use the Floo," Dumbledore said with a wink.

"Will do, and thanks," Harry answered.

"Leaky Cauldron," Harry cried out and a second later he was gone.

* * *

Harry arrived at the Leaky Cauldron with a flash of green flames and stepped out of the fireplace. 

After being greeted by Tom, Harry went up the stairs and opened the door to his room.  
Then he froze, his mouth wide open.

On his bed sat a brilliant pure white bird, not just any bird, but a phoenix.

Slowly Harry entered the room. Tied to the phoenix was a small letter.

Reaching out to it carefully, Harry slowly took it. The phoenix didn't make any move to stop him; it just observed him quietly as if studying a new master.

Filled with excitement, Harry opened the letter and began to read.

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**I wish you a very happy late birthday.  
Please accept this phoenix as a little farewell and late birthday present.  
It's a rare ice breed unlike its fire counterpart, which has the ability to perform a rare type of ice and water magic.  
Also, when it dies it doesn't burst into flames and turn into ashes, but is instead reborn from snow.  
This is normal, so don't be alarmed.  
The ice phoenix is totally impervious to heat and fire due to its unique make up and because of its control of water and ice it can survive in extreme conditions.  
She is a very loyal companion, so I wouldn't give her to just anybody.  
She will serve you well, if you take good care of her. Don't disappoint me.  
Good luck.**_

_**Until we meet again.**_

_**With best wishes,**_

_**God**_

_**PS…She's called Icetasia.**_

The moment Harry finished reading the letter it turned into ice and slowly melted away.

Harry looked up with amazement. This was the best birthday present he had ever received in his whole life. True, he wasn't that old, but still. This was just amazing.

"Thank you, God," he said out loud, looking up at the ceiling.

* * *

High in the Heavens, Ron and Hermione looked down at him with eyes filled with envy. 

A small tap on Hermione's shoulder brought her back to the game.

_Oh no…not my skirt too,_ she thought with dismay as she looked at her losing hand.

Ron just chortled with glee.

* * *

Suddenly the phoenix rose up from the bed and landed on Harry's shoulder.  
She felt quite cold up close, but not uncomfortable. 

"Hi Icey," Harry said, looking at his new friend.

_My name's Icetasia, not Icey, but you may call me Icey if you wish…oh, and hello Harry, it's nice to finally meet you_, came a sudden voice in Harry's head.

Harry gasped, "Did you just speak to me?" He was astonished, forgetting about the fact that he knew the common language.

_Of course, did you think I couldn't_? asked the phoenix.

"No… well of course not… I…I'm just surprised," said Harry in awe.

_Typical…You know, it amazes me how people always come to the same arrogant conclusion that we animals can't talk. Are we so stupid to your eyes? _the phoenix asked with a small amount of annoyance in her voice.

"No, no, of course not, it's just… I forgot that I…" Harry said, his face becoming red with embarrassment.

_Well whatever, just bare in mind that I have no intention to prove myself to anybody_, Icetasia said with a huff, cutting him off.

_Now I think it's time you looked after that snake and owl of yours, they must be starving by now, oh and don't worry about me, I have already eaten and I'm rather tired. Had a rather long journey you see,_ Icetasia said before she put her head under her wing.

Harry took another moment to look at his new and third familiar before he went to feed his first and second.  
One hour later and several mice less, having fed all of his familiars but one, Harry left the Leaky Cauldron to go for another walk around Diagon Alley.

He didn't buy anything since most of the shops had already closed for the day, being after working hours.  
Harry did, however, go for an ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Spicy chocolate ice cream with Tiramisu and fire cream.

Finally, after two more hours of sightseeing, Harry went to bed.  
He had two long days of shopping and practicals in front of him.

* * *

At 17.00 the next day, Harry was once again in the headmaster's office.  
His wand was out and he was patiently waiting for his headmaster's next command. 

He had already completed six of his seven practicals and was now waiting for his last, Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Dumbledore had been very impressed by all of Harry's exam results.  
Impressed wasn't the right word: flabbergasted probably fit it better.

Much to Dumbledore's complete astonishment, but not Harry's, Harry had received full marks in all of his exams, theoretical and practical, except Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, where he only received an acceptable for Care of Magical Creatures and an E for Herbology in his practical and that was only because Harry had not taken Care of Magical Creatures in his own time for his N.E.W.T. years. Herbology had room for improvement.

The little amount he knew of N.E.W.T. practical standard Care of Magical Creatures had been from Merlin, but Harry had not spent so much time at that subject in Heaven due to the simple fact of the lack of magical creatures where he had been. What he knew about Herbology came from what he knew from classes.  
_Oh well, you can't have everything, I'll just have to study harder in those subjects this year,_ Harry thought as Dumbledore told him his results.

Not only had Harry received full marks in his other tests, he had even answered a number of extra questions in the theoretical part which he didn't even have to, giving him a total of 125 in some of his exams.

_Now I know how Hermione felt in her first year,_ Harry thought as he took a long look.

* * *

Back in Heaven, Hermione was busy following several…individuals…around, frantically asking them if they would train her.  
She wasn't looking forward to her N.E.W.T.s back on earth. 

Ron was just lying under a palm tree, a straw hat over his face and a piece of straw dangling casually from his mouth, watching a few scantily dressed girls playing volleyball on a beach nearby.

_Ah, this is death,_ he thought casually, as his eyelids started to fall.

* * *

Impressed, Dumbledore had asked Harry if he wanted to have a simple duel, instead of the usual Dark Arts practical.  
Just to see how good Harry really was, Dumbledore had claimed. 

Harry had agreed and so he was now standing in front of his old master, waiting for him to cast the first spell. Due to the fact that he had 'accidentally' left his wand behind at the Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore had given Harry a practice wand for the practicals.

"_Stupefy_," Dumbledore said, meaning to start off with something simple.

The spell came so suddenly that Harry only had a split second to react.

"_Protego_," Harry said, immediately putting up a shield.

Dumbledore's Stunner hit it and was immediately deflected.

Nodding his approval, Dumbledore cast another spell. "_Reducto_."

Not wanting to show his real skill, Harry threw up another shield and once again Dumbledore's spell was deflected.

For the first time Harry went on the offensive.

"_Stupefy, Stupefy, Confundo, Expelliarmus_," he cried out in quick succession, rushing towards Dumbledore while casting the spells.

This time it was Dumbledore who had to react, but instead of casting a shield, he dodged the first two spells and summoned two bricks to block Harry's other two spells just before dodging Harry, who had tried to kick him.

"Not bad, but I feel you can do more than you're showing," Dumbledore said, looking at Harry with more than just a bit of respect.

All of Harry's spells had been dead on target and all had been aimed for different parts of his body. The fact that Harry also attacked using the Muggle way surprised Dumbledore greatly.

_You're damn right I can, but it's much too early to show you my real self,_ Harry thought smugly, as he dodged a few incoming spells and replied in kind, sending another spell at Dumbledore.

Again the old headmaster summoned an object to block Harry's spell, and, pointing his wand at Harry's feet, said, "_Accio_."

Before Harry could even react, a carpet he was standing on was Summoned from beneath his feet and he began to fall.

Harry quickly cast a Cushioning Charm on the floor before creating another shield, which once again deflected Dumbledore's next spell, a simple 'expelliarmus'.

Now angry, Harry countered with a nonverbal illusion spell, aiming it at the wall behind the headmaster.

The wall seemed to explode and thousands of illusionary splinters and small pieces of rock flew right at Dumbledore who quickly threw up a shield before any of the debris could hit him, only to be surprised when none came.

Harry used the small lapse in Dumbledore concentration to cast another Disarming Spell, but once again Dumbledore blocked it with another shield.

For the first time Dumbledore looked at Harry as an equal. The fact that Harry's last two spells had both been nonverbal not forgetting that they had been from a practice wand, had taken him by surprise.  
Not wanting to divert to more dangerous spells and because he was actually a little worried that he might some how lose, though he would never admit it, Dumbledore called off the duel.

Besides, he had seen more than enough to realize that Harry really did know his stuff. The portraits, who had all been protected by special Shield Charms before the duel, began to cheer.

"Well done, lad, it's been a while since a student could hold his own against the old man," a portrait of a very old man with a small oak walking stick said out loud.

"Yes, thank you, that was most illuminating, Rodney," Dumbledore said to the portrait, smiling, before he took a seat behind his desk which he had repaired a moment before and started to glance at a piece of parchment.

"Never the less, he's right, it's been a while since a student could say that," he added, his twinkle reappearing in his eyes after looking up a few seconds later.

Harry just smiled; he knew if he really had gone all out there would not have been much of an office left by the time he had finished.

"Ok, Harry, your tests have all been completed, all that is left for me to say is welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, standing up and holding his hand out for Harry to shake.

"May it be the start of a long and healthy relationship," Harry replied as he took Dumbledore's hand and shook it.

A few minutes later, now enrolled into Hogwarts, Harry was on his way home, back to room eleven of the Leaky Cauldron, armed with a letter which displayed all of the books he would need for the year, as well as with an official certificate of enrolment, which also displayed his exam results.  
Six outstandings with big fat pluses attached, one normal O- for Herbology and one treacherous little acceptable for Care of Magical Creatures… no one's perfect.

"Next stop, Flourish and Blotts book store, and then Ollivander's," Harry said that night as he went to sleep, satisfied.

He never heard the cheers that erupted from seven individuals high above. Even an eighth with horns gave a small clap.

_Today was a good day…a good day indeed. _


	6. Trouble At Ollivander’s

**Special Disclaimer:**

**As a bit of fun to celebrate the new year we decided to add this extra bit of fun: If people like it we might make a few more.  
**

**Enjoy: **

The curtains open and some romantic music starts.  
Harry Potter walks up on stage. Following him closely are Ron and Hermione, who seem to be holding hands and sneaking imaginary kisses to each other when Harry isn't looking.  
Suddenly the music changes to a horrible horror tune as Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, walks onto the stage. A few Aurors are behind him, looking scared but pointing wands at him from all angles.  
Just as the music rises to a crescendo, Voldemort grabs one of the Aurors by his arms and before Voldemort can be stopped by the other Aurors he blasts them all with the Killing Curse.  
Seeing that they are all dead, Voldemort turns to face Harry, smiling with satisfaction as he starts to cackle evilly.  
Ron and Hermione start to scream in terror. Harry stays still.

"Hey, get off…now is not your time," a voice says suddenly from the audience.  
"Says who?"  
"I do," says the first voice.  
"And I quite agree! You couldn't have picked a worse time to make your entrance. What were you thinking?" a second voice chastises  
"Who are you?"  
"The author," answers the first.  
"The beta reader," says the second.  
"Oh!... In that case…sorry…I'll be… er…on the way…er…right," says a humiliated Voldemort suddenly, with great fear in his eyes.

Unnoticed while Voldemort was busy talking, Harry, who had been watching the conversation, creeps up behind Voldemort and starts to kiss him on the neck.  
"What the," Voldemort screams just as Harry's lips reach his neck, then he starts to howl in pain as Harry's lips leave a burn on his neck.  
"ARGGG!"  
Harry, who finally understands why he is kissing Voldemort, continues to do so with gusto.  
"Come on…don't you want a hug?" Harry asks sweetly in a seductive tone, attempting to wrap his arms around Voldemort, who is futilely trying to escape Harry's kisses of death.  
"No! Stop…please…it burns, it burns" Voldemort screams. "Please, make it stop."  
"Say the magic words," Harry says between kisses.

Voldemort, now in great pain, starts to speak very quickly**. "The Author of this story wishes to tell everybody that he does not own the Harry Potter universe…** now please stop!" he screams.  
Hearing the magic words, Harry goes in for the kill.  
Just before he gives Voldemort the final, ultimate kiss, the curtain comes down and censorship signs start to flash all over the stage to block the scene. A few final deafening screams are heard. "My precious, My Precious… ARGGGG!!" Then all is quiet.

Suddenly, Hermione and Ron with humiliated faces come out from behind the curtains.  
"Er…we apologise for the disturbance…the Story can now continue."  
"Ah the power of the Author," says the first voice.  
"Ah the sweet power of love," says the second as they go back to their seats in the audience.

* * *

**Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 6 **

**Trouble At Olivanders  
**

* * *

**Srory Beta'd by: RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination**

**Disclaimer beta'd by ****RPMcMurphy**** and written by Author and Beta.  
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Harry woke up early the next day. 

With only one day left before the start of the new school year, Harry had a lot of last minute shopping to do.

_Why do I always leave everything to the last minute,_ he thought as he made his way downstairs to the bar.  
_Probably because I don't have a choice in the matter, _his mind countered logically. After all, he didn't have his book list, and he didn't know if he would be able to officially attend Hogwarts until last night, he reminded himself.

A large breakfast later, consisting mainly of scrambled eggs on toast with the addition of truffles, _Hey I have the money, might as well spend it,_ Harry had thought, he left the Leaky Cauldron for a day of intense shopping. Besides, wasn't it his right as the official messenger of death, sent by the hidden world above?  
Harry didn't know how Tom had managed to get his hand on some truffles, but then again, Tom, like Harry, was a wizard. If anybody could get their hands on a truffle, it would be a wizard.

Harry's first stop that day as planned was Flourish and Blotts. He needed to buy his school books, even though he probably knew everything already (well, except his choice subjects and extras.) Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology perhaps…. though that was probably just the practical side.

Armed with his wandless magic and his usually 5 meter long snake, Lady Pryditor (Lady Predator as he liked to joke, or just Pry for short) hidden snuggly under his robes, now several meters smaller (thought not any less deadly) due to a temporary Shrinking Charm Harry had used, Harry was just about to enter the book shop when a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey James, what are you up to, have you forgotten that we wanted to go look at the newest brooms?" the familiar voice of his godfather called out.

Harry froze in shock. He knew the voice was directed towards him. For a second he didn't know what to do before he turned around to see his younger godfather walking towards him, followed by a younger Peter Pettigrew.

"I'm sorry, but you must have mistaken me for someone else," he said as his father's best friend and Peter, the man who betrayed them all, stepped up beside him.

"Oh… really... you're not James Potter?" the younger Sirius asked, looking at Harry as if he didn't believe him.

_No, I'm his son and the head of the Black and Potter families_, Harry wanted to say. Instead, he held out his hand and said, "No, I'm not James, though I have been told that we look alike. My name is Granger, Harry Granger."

"Oh, well in that case, nice to meet you, Mr…Granger, I'm Black, Serious Sirius Black, and this here is my friend Peter Pettigrew," Sirius said while motioning towards Peter and taking Harry's hand to give it a shake.

Harry did his best not to hug his godfather and not to smile too much as he shook Peter's hand. _Not too long now, Peter, not too long now, you traitor,_ he thought.

Sensing Harry's obvious dislike of Peter, Pry slowly crept out of Harry's robes and hissed at Peter, who jerked his hand back quickly, alarm spreading all over his face, which had turned very white after seeing the dangerous snake. Even in her reduced size, Pry still looked as fierce as her name.

"Oh… sorry about that. May I introduce my familiar, Lady Pryditor, or just Pry for short. Don't worry, she won't bite… not unless I tell her to," Harry said pleasantly as he smiled predatorily.

_Yet… meet your demise, Peter,_ he thought with a hint of malice in his eyes as he watched Peter, who was unsure of what to do next.

Sirius, however, was looking at Pry with big gleeful eyes as if Christmas had come early.  
"Oh, I have always wanted one of those, but sadly we are not allowed to have them at Hogwarts," he announced, evident regret in his voice.

"Really, I am starting Hogwarts tomorrow, 7th year, and Dumbledore allowed her to come," Harry said, feigning surprise. It wasn't that difficult to feign.

Harry raised his eyes in pleasant surprise. _Sirius always was the oddball of the family,_ he thought. Not that he was about to complain though. On the contrary, though for a second Harry wondered how his godfather had ever been sorted into Gryffindor. _Probably asked the same way I did._

"Really, that's wicked, we will be in the same year," Sirius said, momentarily delighted, but it didn't last for long.

"What's wrong, Sirius?" Harry asked, noticing the sudden change of demeanour.

"Oh nothing, it's nothing," Sirius said, suddenly looking sad.

"Come on, I know a sad look when I see one, what's wrong?" Harry asked, wondering what had canceled his early Christmas present.

With a sigh Sirius answered, "You have a snake, it's the symbol of Slytherin, you will probably be put straight into Slytherin and then I'll never get a chance to get near to you."

"Ohhhh… that," Harry said, rolling his eyes, once again annoyed by the stupid inter-house rivalry. "Don't worry about any stupid house rivalries, I choose my friends differently and no stupid Slytherin fool is going to say otherwise."

"Besides, I may not even be in Slytherin. Who knows, I may even end up in Gryffindor," Harry said with a hint of amusement, although he did feel a little nervous. Hadn't the hat tried to place him into Slytherin before?

"Really? That would be great, I'm in Gryffindor," Sirius said, brightening up immediately, hope restored.

The two old friends, both dead and one from the future, studied each other for a minute longer before Harry asked if they wanted to accompany him into Flourish and Blotts.

"Listen, I have some books which I need to buy, would you like to join me?" he asked.

"Well, we are supposed to meet James, but… I guess it would be ok," Sirius replied, thinking for a second.

So it was that Harry Potter, also known as Harry Granger, together with the not so serious, Sirius Black, his godfather (though he didn't know it), and a rat and former… future traitor, Peter Pettigrew, entered Flourish and Blotts.

Inside Flourish and Blotts, Harry quickly proceeded to the 'back to school' section at the back of the store.

He had no real intention of staying too long in the shop, though he did stop by at the advanced Dark Arts section, looking for books on necromancy, which he didn't find.

After making a mental note to look around in Knockturn Alley at a later stage, Harry finally decided that he had had enough.

However, he was soon distracted by an interesting book on highly advanced curses and hexes. _'Most vile and evil Dark Hexes and Curses…an expert's guide to spells of ultimate destruction.'_

Surprised to see such a dangerous book in a normal bookstore in Diagon Alley, Harry glanced through the book. Harry saw curses he hadn't even learned in his brief stint in the afterlife. And for a good reason. According to the book, one spell could be used to blow a whole building apart… another to wipe out a whole city, if you had enough power to cast the spell, that is.

Seeing this made Harry shiver. _So here lies the answer to the Muggle atomic bomb_, Harry thought.

Intrigued, Harry understood why the book was on the shelves. Most wizards and witches didn't have nearly enough magical power to perform any of these spells, so it would be safe to display it, or so the Ministry thought.

Finished reading the book, Harry started to add it to his other purchases when he realized that the age restriction for the book was in fact over seventeen. Even though Harry had turned seventeen over the last few weeks and even though he had spent the last few years in the life beyond and was now legally allowed to perform magic at any time, he still did not have any I.D. or other way to prove it should he be asked for it.

Harry knew that he was legally allowed to have the book, but if he was asked for identification, he would not be able to show any. The last thing he wanted was the store owner to check for him in the Ministry files.

So, taking a brief look around, Harry quickly made sure that nobody could see him then, using his shape-shifting ability, he quickly made himself look twenty years older.

Again, Harry marveled at his new abilities. As a shape-shifter, while the transformation was painful (though not so much for him anymore as he was now virtually immune to pain, thanks to his time in Hell), he generally had the powers of an Animagus and Metamorphmagus combined. The fact that he could also change into virtually anything was just a bonus and as such the good points of shape-shifting vastly outweighed its bad points, no matter now dangerous they may be.

Now looking like a thirty seven year old, Harry definitely fit the requirements, so he made his way to the counter where he quickly paid for all of his books before Sirius or Peter could find out and comment about his sudden change of appearance. He was never given a second glance.

After he had paid, Harry slowly made his way out of the shop where he changed back into his former self, though much more slowly so that nobody passing by would notice a difference, not unless they took time to look, which was unlikely. Even so, Harry was careful and even used a small notice-me-not charm on himself, just to make sure.

Soon he was back to his normal size and age and once his books were safely in his chest, which he had carried around with him, shrunken in his pocket, Harry re-entered the shop to find Sirius looking longingly at a few prank books.

Smiling to himself, Harry took a quick peek at the title and, while looking over Sirius's shoulder, at a few spells inside.

_1000 Ways to Make People do Stupid Things_

Harry just laughed. "Sirius, be serious, that book is for beginners. I know of a nice little potion which would make spells in this book look like child's play," Harry said, remembering an amusing potion that Satan had taught him, though he probably had meant it to be used offensively as a way to neutralize the enemy and not as a prank. If only he could secretly slip some to…

"Really, are you sure? We used a lot of spells from these books," Sirius countered, looking horrified at the idea of being called a beginner at pranks.

"Trust me, if you live long enough I might even show one to you," Harry said with a vicious grin and a wink which made Sirius look at him with a bit of fear in his eyes. He was obviously wondering what this new student was capable of and made a mental note not to prank him, at least not until he knew more. A wise choice indeed.

* * *

In Heaven an older Sirius was watching the little scene with mild amusement.  
"Sirius old boy, listen to your godson, you might just learn something from him," he said out loud to his younger self below, though he knew his younger self would never hear him. 

Beside him James was looking sadly at a few books on pranks.  
"If only I had known about that one… yes… that would have worked," he said to himself, his eyes shining. He could hardly wait to get back down again. Maybe for now he could…

"What are you up to, Prongs?" Sirius asked him, trying to sneak a look into the book.

"Later Paddy, later," James replied with a small mischievous smile across his face.

* * *

Back on earth, Harry, Sirius, and Peter had left Flourish and Blotts with their pockets considerably lighter, though Harry's money bag quickly became a lot heavier again after it began to receive a new influx of Galleons, courtesy of Harry's wonderful money spell. 

After a brief stop at the local potions shop to buy a few ingredients which Harry knew he was going to need during the year, Harry had only one more item left on his 'to get' list.

A wand.

This was the one thing, besides his owl… and snake…which Harry had been looking forward to the most.  
Sirius, however, had other plans.

"Listen Harry, I know you're looking forward to buying your wand, honestly I can't understand how you get by without one after accidentally losing your last one in that fire, but we really have to go find James. He's probably fairly ticked off by now that we didn't come as arranged," Sirius said awkwardly.

After deciding that his wand could wait just a little longer (he was a master at wandless, after all), Harry followed his two friends to the Quidditch supply store where they found James and Remus waiting impatiently nearby.

"James, over here, guess who we just found," Sirius said, waving to his best friend and Harry's future father.

James turned to look and was about to reprimand his friend for not meeting him when his mouth fell open in surprise.  
"Gee, he looks like your twin brother," said Remus, who was looking at Harry as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Except for his eyes," Remus added

_Yes those eyes, those famous little green eyes, James, guess who they are from? _thought Harry.

"They look just like Lily's," said James. "Maybe there is hope after all," he joked.

_Well done,_ thought Harry, impressed.

"James, Remus, this is Harry Granger. Harry, this is James Potter and Remus Lupin," Sirius said, motioning to each in turn.

"We found him near Flourish and Blotts, thinking he was you, and before we knew it, we had a new friend," Sirius added cheerfully.

"Nice to finally meet my mysterious twin," Harry said, flashing a grin as he took his father's hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," James replied, giving Harry a good look over.

"You're not a distant cousin of mine by any chance, are you?" he asked

"Could be, for all we know I could be your son," joked Harry as he shook Remus's hand, which made everybody laugh.

"Hardly, though I must admit, the similarities are all there," James replied, frowning slightly. "Especially towards…" he trailed off quietly.

Harry's just raised his eyebrows as a response. "Who knows, you might just adopt me," Harry said mischievously, which earned him a small grin from his father to be.

"So, shall we have a look?" asked Sirius, who had grown a little bored.

"Shall we?" Harry asked his father.

"Sure, that's what we came here for in the first place, isn't it?" James asked.

"Well, then lead the way," Harry answered, motioning his father to take the lead.

A few seconds later, everybody was busy looking at the newest brooms on the market.

"Look at the new Nimbus 200," James said, his eyes widening.

It was clear he was in love with the new broom.

"Listen to this, the new Nimbus 200 can reach a top speed of 70 kilometers an hour, that's 25 kilometers faster than the broom you got last summer, James," Sirius said, his eyes firmly glued to the description of the new broom in the window.

Harry didn't know what to think; just before he had died he had been the proud owner of a Firebolt, which could reach a top speed of 170 kilometers per hour. This broom made him yawn, literally.  
This broom didn't even have the braking charms that Harry was so used to. _Looks like this year will be extremely interesting, at least concerning Quidditch. Maybe I can do something about that,_ Harry thought, already making plans to make a broom of his own.  
_With my knowledge of future brooms it shouldn't be too difficult_, he decided. He didn't care at all that he was making plans to radically change history as he knew it.

"What do you think," Sirius asked Harry after a while, having finally unglued himself from the shop window.

"Hmm, I think they would be much better if they could go a little faster, 70 Kilometers makes me yawn," Harry said, which made Sirius and James give him strange looks.

"What, I'm serious, in my opinion these brooms are much too slow. Take a broom which can reach a top speed of 170 kilometers, now that would be worth it," he added.

"That would be suicide," Peter exclaimed.

"That would be wicked," James and Sirius replied.

"I'm glad you agree," was Harry's response. _Just wait till the try outs,_ he thought.

Half an hour later, Harry and friends were standing outside Ollivander's, ready to buy Harry's wand. The store looked just the same like it always did. Well, it had a fresh coat of paint, but that was about it.  
Harry was a little anxious. The wand that he had bought in the future might already exist. If he bought it now, would it still exist in the future? Did it matter anymore? Something told Harry that it did.  
If he got his old holly wand now, how would he get it again when he first started at Hogwarts? Thinking about this problem made his head hurt and also made him extremely anxious.  
_Gee, I hate time travel, _he thought as he entered the shop. He would just have to make sure that he didn't choose the wand, or rather that the wand didn't choose him.

Standing in front of the counter in the shop Harry was still deliberating this dilemma when Ollivander stepped down from his ladder to greet them.

"Good afternoon," said the same voice which Harry knew from the future.

"Ah hello, James Potter isn't it, mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration," Ollivander said, looking at Harry.

"No, that would be me," said James, smiling.

"Oh… I see," said Ollivander, looking from Harry to James and back again, frowning.  
"How extraordinary, very extraordinary," Ollivander said as he tried to come up with Harry's real name.

Harry felt the sudden tell tale sign of someone trying to do Legilimency so he put his defenses on full.  
_Oh no you don't,_ Harry thought. _Not this time…not this time…let's just see if you can't guess right._

After a short while, Ollivander gave up.  
"Ok…in that case…who may you be…Mr…er..?"

Harry was delighted; it was the first time as far as he could remember that Ollivander had ever been defeated when it came to remembering or guessing names. James and the rest seemed to think likewise as they just looked from Ollivander to Harry with astonishment.

_You can call me ' Lord Death, the death messenger from Hell',_ Harry wanted to say, but instead he simply said, "Granger, Harry Granger, Muggle-born," looking directly into Ollivander's eyes, who tried to do Legilimency again, receiving the same results.

"Well then, Mr. Granger," said Ollivander, his frown deepening. He was greatly mystified by this strange Muggle-born, who had Occlumency shields greater than a fully trained master.  
"Which is your wand hand, Mr. Granger," he asked.

"Neither and both," said Harry smugly.

"Hmm, right, anyway… I'll take that as a right hand answer," said Ollivander, who was not impressed, having not understood the meaning of Harry's comment, as measuring tapes started to measure Harry from all angles.  
Of course he couldn't know that the young man in front of him was an absolute master at wand magic as well as wandless magic. Even Dumbledore couldn't say that and it was widely known that he was the most powerful wizard alive.

Not anymore!

Ollivander left the group for a moment to look for some wands.  
When he returned, Harry was looking around the room, trying to see where his old wand could be and wondering how long it would take to find it this time.

"Here, try this one," Ollivander said, handing Harry an oak wand with Veela eyelashes, one of his finest creations.

The moment Harry touched the wand it exploded, showering everybody with splinters and bits of wood.

"Okay, definitely not," Ollivander squeaked, horrified by the sudden loss of a wand in such a drastic way. Pointing his own wand at himself and everybody else, he quickly removed several splinters, which had embedded themselves into everybody's skin.  
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all took a few steps back as soon as their splinters were removed. Something told them it would be safer to stay far away from Harry and Ollivander at that moment.

Ollivander came back a few seconds later with another wand.  
This time it was a maple wand with a dragon heartstring. Another fine creation, as he would say.

Harry once more took the wand, only this time it burst into flames and fell to the ground, a pile of smoldering ash.

"Nope," Harry said as Ollivander cursed. He had just lost another of his precious wands.  
"No charge, no charge, my fault," he said as he, once again, disappeared behind his shelves, his normal giddiness completely missing.

This time Ollivander came back with three different wands.  
He seemed rather unwilling to hand Harry his next wand.

Harry reached out for the wand, but before he could take it, it snapped in half, which made Ollivander close his eyes and count backwards to himself in ancient runes.

"Hmm, I guess that means it's not worthy enough," said Harry quietly, frowning to himself. Usually a wizard or witch's wand was snapped if the wizard or witch was found not worthy enough to learn magic. What did this mean? Was the wand really not worthy enough for him?  
Ollivander just sighed at the comment.

The next two wands both held similar results, though they didn't break. Instead, they just didn't work at all.

Ollivander was just about to put them back, slightly happier since they hadn't been destroyed, when one of them turned into a bouquet of flowers.  
"Oh come on, who the devil put a fake wand into my store," he roared, becoming extremely embarrassed and furious at the same time.  
By this time James and his friends were howling with laughter. They had thought they had seen it all, until now.

"Do you need any help?" asked Remus, who was the only one who was feeling a little sorry for the old man.

"No, no, I'm fine, thanks anyway," said Ollivander, waving him off. He was fairly red in the face.

Ten minutes, and several wands later, all of which had somehow met an untimely end, Ollivander broke down and began to sob.  
He had lost eighteen good wands already, and he was close to completely losing it.

Harry began to feel sorry for him and decided to help him out a bit.  
"Hmmm, I might be wrong, but… could you try a wand with a bit of a phoenix?" he asked.

Harry had wanted to say that he had a phoenix familiar but he quickly remembered that his new friends behind him didn't know about her yet. He wanted to keep her a secret, at least for now.

Ollivander looked up at him with watery eyes and shrugged. "Sure, why not, I have nothing to lose anymore anyway, my wands are broken, my ego is bruised, might as well ruin me altogether," he said sarcastically, but to his credit he walked over to another shelf and took down a parcel which was close to the top.

"Here, try this one," he said, obviously extremely reluctant to give Harry any more of his wands.

Behind Harry, James and Sirius were busy placing a bet.  
"Two Galleons that it explodes," James said.

"Nah, I say four that it turns into a rubber duck," Sirius replied.

"James, Sirius, don't you think poor Ollivander has had enough for one day," Remus reprimanded, looking at them with a scowl.

Harry turned to face them and said, "Ten Galleons that it won't do either… each, that it will be in one piece."

"Deal," James and Sirius said together without even blinking. They were sure this wand would meet an untimely end like the others had.

* * *

Up in Heaven, the other older, dead James and Sirius were also betting. 

"A run up Mount Satan, with a few pounds on your back, that the wand will blow a hole into Oli's shop," said James gleefully.

"Nah, I say it will burst into flames," said Sirius.

"Deal," they said together, shaking hands.

* * *

Harry turned back and took the wand. Ollivander had already taken a step back and had closed his eyes, waiting for the disaster to happen. 

It never came.

One second, two seconds, three, 'BANG'.

"Harry?" he asked, as he opened his eyes, fearing the worst.

Harry still had the wand in his hand much to everybody's surprise and his friends' great disappointment, who both swore loudly. However, one of Ollivander's shelves had exploded and boxes and wands were lying all over the floor. Looking across the room, they saw a huge hole in a wall.

"Oh, well…that's an improvement," said Ollivander, his eyes widening with surprise at the still in one piece, whole wand. "However, not the right one…yet… I wonder," he said as he took the wand from Harry's hands, holding it tenderly like a newborn baby as if it were the most precious wand in the world. Slowly he started to walk to the back of his store for what must have been the 20th time that day.

Just before he put the wand back it stared to smoke and burn. With a withering glare, Ollivander let it fall to the ground.

Behind him, Harry was becoming extremely nervous. This was it, he knew it, he could feel it in his bones.  
The next wand Ollivander was about to bring him would be his old friend, he just knew it.

Without really noticing, Harry took the ten Galleons each, which James and Sirius owed him.  
They really didn't have happy faces, though at that moment Harry didn't care; he had different, far greater worries.  
He had to find a way to avoid buying his old wand… but how?  
Then it suddenly came to him in a flash of illumination.

In Heaven, James and Sirius, their previous bet a draw (on mutual agreement they didn't have to run up the mountain with a few pounds on their backs), watched with baited breath.

Back on earth, Harry, with a small evil grin on his face, waited for Ollivander to return.  
And return he did.  
As expected, Ollivander was carrying the same old parcel which Harry remembered from his first life.

Slowly Harry opened it and took the wand.  
Quickly, before the wand had a chance to recognise its old master, Harry waved the wand and inaudibly cast a spell as strongly as he could.  
What happened next was to go down in Diagon Alley history.

* * *

With a gigantic boom that could be heard for miles around (luckily the Muggles never found out what it was), Harry practically tore the store apart. 

The moment he waved the wand, every shelf in Ollivander's shop splintered into thousands of tiny pieces, which fell to the ground.

Wands of all shapes and sizes started to fly around, hitting everything and everyone that stood in their paths.

Pandemonium reigned.

Windows shattered and several tables in the store burst into flames.

Ollivander himself started to scream and run for the nearest door, hands waving wildly, only to be hit on the head by a wand as it rocketed through the air.

After seeing Ollivander's unconscious body fall to the ground, Harry quickly put up the strongest shield he could think of, which quickly engulfed him and his friends, who were looking at him in complete and utter shock.

Quickly, under the protection of Harry's shield, everybody headed for the shop entrance into the relative safety of Diagon Alley, where a sizable crowd had started to gather.  
Nearly every window in Diagon Alley had shattered.

Just before Harry left the shop he put his old wand back on the table and caught another, which seemed to fly right into his hands.  
At that moment he heard a strange, yet familiar voice in his head.

**_"Take this wand, it does not belong to Ollivander, but it will serve you well. It holds a rare combination of seven different cores.  
_**

**_"Dementor bones from the oldest Dementor in existence, dragon heartstring from the first dragon king of old, Basilisk fang from Salazar's first Basilisk, Veela heartstring from the first Veela ever born, a Phoenix feather, from Icetasia your own familiar, and last but not least one of my own hairs, all combined into the case of a tree which hasn't existed for many centuries._**

**_"If some one asks about it, tell them it's a maple wand with a dragon heart core, but under no circumstance tell them the truth. If somebody tests it, it will show up as such._**

**_ "It's completely indestructible, greater than the Elder Wand, and more powerful than a staff._**

_**"Go now, my child, go and make us proud."** _

Harry nearly dropped the wand in complete shock; he knew that voice. With shaking hands he pocketed the wand, then grabbed Ollivander's unconscious body and dragged him out of the shop.

Outside, a huge crowd had assembled to watch dozens of wands fly out of some windows only to re-enter through others.

If the situation had not been so serious, Harry would have laughed until his stomach ached. As it was, the last thing on his mind was laughter.

His friends seemed to agree as dozens of _Daily Prophet_ reporters had appeared and were busy interviewing them while countless Aurors were already busy separating people and ordering them to move on. There were even a few Healers tending to a few people who had been hit by stray wands.

Harry groaned. _This was going to make the news for at least a full week, if not more_, he thought as he frantically looked for a way to escape.

Fortunately luck was on his side. For once, something had occurred which would never have happened in his time, but in this time he wasn't the famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, but just a normal student. Just a normal everyday student who had somehow managed to completely decimate the shop of one of the best-known wandmakers in the entire world.

All in all, a day's work well done, as Fred and George would have said….If you were mischievous and a troublemaker, that is.

Harry silently put an Invisibility Charm over himself and started to creep away before anything more could happen.  
He felt a little guilty about leaving his friends to fend for themselves, but he wasn't ready to be famous again… not yet at least. He wasn't sure if he could get away from this one, as James and Sirius were bound to tell the full story. All he could do was hope.

Leaving the unconscious body of Ollivander on the ground, he started to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron.  
He was sure someone would find him soon enough.

Sure enough, after looking back after a few minutes, several reporters could be seen swarming around the dazed, now conscious shape of the wandmaker, who it was clear didn't know what to say. The horror on his face and his teary eyes as he looked at his crumpling shop said everything though as the vultures swarmed around him.  
Sighing, Harry turned away once more; he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Slowly he started to walk away. This time he did not look back.

* * *

In Heaven, James and Sirius were having a small party. 

"That was bloody brilliant," James said, looking at the carnage below with awe.

"Remind me to congratulate him," said Sirius, a huge grin on his face.

"All hail the undisputed master of chaos," they said together, then with a clink of their champagne glasses, they whooped with delight as another wand narrowly missed a target below.

* * *

The next day, Harry woke up very early to the sound of an owl scraping at his window. 

Nervously, Harry got out of bed and walked over to open it up.

As expected, the owl had brought the newest edition of the _Daily Prophet,_ and after giving the owl the usual Knut, he opened it with shaking hands.

**_Diagon Alley in shatters as Ollivander sells faulty wands._**

Harry groaned as he read the headline.  
_Oh simply perfect, _he thought before he continued to read.

**_In a spectacular display of fireworks, which included hundreds of rogue wands from the famous wand store Ollivander's, Diagon Alley was yesterday host to a spectacle which rocked the whole of London for miles around._**

**_"I was standing beside one of Ollivander's windows when I heard the largest explosion I ever heard in my whole life. That's just about all I can remember, actually, as the next thing I knew I was being helped up by a friendly Mediwitch, who announced that I had been knocked out by a heavy oak wand," said a helpless victim yesterday, who prefers to stay anonymous at this time due to legal reasons._**

**_Another eyewitness claimed that every store in Diagon Alley lost their windows in the resulting explosion which could still be heard several miles away in the far edges of London's suburbs. As a result, glass shares and prices have risen dramatically all over London and surrounding areas.  
Luckily, Muggles are still as clueless as ever to the cause of the explosion, though there have been rumours of potential breaches by Muggles into the wizarding world.  
The Ministry, however, insists that all of these rumours a……._**

Harry looked up from the article and sighed.  
"What have I done this time," he said out loud before skipping further down to see if he or his friends had been named.

After a while he found it.

**_A few students who were buying wands at the time had this to say:_**

**_Some of my friends and I were accompanying another friend into Ollivander's to buy a new wand, when my friend accepted a particular wand to try out from Mr. Ollivander. Just after waving the wand, we heard a massive explosion, and when I say massive, I mean massive. The whole store rocked from the noise. I personally thought I was going to go deaf. Several tables burst into flames and every shelf in the whole store crumpled into dust. Hundreds of wands started to attack us from all angles, and one managed to knock Mr. Ollivander out before he could reach the relative safety of the door. I'd say we owe our lives to our friend; without his fantastic shield we would have been practically clobbered to death…_**

Harry again skipped a few lines until he saw what he really was looking for:

**_Unfortunately, we were unable to find the unfortunate 'real' victim, who has been identified as a Muggle-born with the name of Harry Granger, anywhere, who somehow managed to escape from the carnage before one of our reporters was able to question him. His friends, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Rattigrew, were unwilling to comment on his behalf.  
When asked about the shield he used, they just answered that it was nothing like they had ever seen before and couldn't do it justice if they explained it themselves.  
We of the _Daily Prophet_ urge Mr. Granger to step forward, and offer him 1000 Galleons reward for an exclusive interview; however, in light of recent circumstances we can understand if he wishes to stay concealed at this time._**

**_Mr. Ollivander, owner of Ollivander's (a detailed description and accomplishments of Ollivander can be found on page 12,) was not very helpful as he blatantly refused to answer any questions…._**

Harry stopped reading at this point.

_Well, it wasn't as bad as it could have been,_ Harry thought glumly, remembering a recent article by Rita Skeeter. He would just have to stay away from public areas for the next few months, he thought miserably. Harry made a mental note to send Ollivander some money to help him with his numerous upcoming court cases.

_On the other hand, Peter's new name suits him perfectly_. _He truly is a pest of a rat,_ Harry thought, laughing at the new nickname.

He took a moment to glance at a small picture of the now smashed Ollivander's store, where several wands were merrily exiting and re-entering through multiple smashed windows.

_So much for not being famous,_ he thought dismally. He was not sure whether to look forward or not to the train journey later on that day.

* * *

Harry spent the next few hours prior to his departure locked up in his room.  
For some reason the train was scheduled to leave later than usual, so Harry had some time to spare. 

In the relative security of his room, he made plans on how to make his own special broom, which he was planning on using in the school's Quidditch matches later that year. If he was going to be famous, no matter what he did, then he would at least make the most of it.  
_At least I won't be here forever_, he reminded himself. So he might as well have some fun.

Relatively sure that all the items he needed were available in this time, Harry sent off several orders to multiple providers for several items he would need.

Once happy with his preparations, he started to pack up the last remaining items for the train journey to Hogwarts. As a wise precaution, he had already done most of his packing the night before.

Since he was able to do magic without being discovered, everything went much faster than it usually would have done and so Harry was finished with several hours to spare before his evident departure.

Harry used this free time to read ahead in the books of some of his choice subjects that he was going to take this year. He was now so used to memorising facts from his training in Heaven and Hell that he only had to read through a page once to fully understand and memorise its contents.

He also spent his time communicating with his familiars, using Phoenixonia when speaking to his phoenix and Parseltongue when speaking with his snake. (common tongue when speaking to Snowflake)

Much to his pleasant surprise, Harry had found out that he could speak Phoenixonia just as well, with just as much ease as he could speak Parseltongue.

Finally, with directly one hour to go, the big moment had arrived when Harry left his now empty room to head to King's Cross station.

* * *

After leaving the key and wishing Tom farewell and thanking him for keeping the media gorillas off his back (they had somehow found out where he lived), Harry, with his trunk safely in his pocket, quickly left the Leaky Cauldron, dodging reporters at every corner, and slid into the nearest empty dark alley he could find.  
Once happy that nobody was around, Harry quickly made himself invisible and teleported himself directly into the middle of the magical section of King's Cross station. 

The train was already there and so were many reporters who were busy sweeping the area, obviously looking for him. Still invisible, he entered the train and found himself a nice empty compartment somewhere near the back.  
Once inside, he made himself visible again.

He wasn't taking any chances that someone would recognize him from yesterday, at least not until the train was on its way to the relative safety of Hogwarts. Until then, the less people that saw him, the better.

Slowly, the last few minutes ticked away as the train gradually began to fill with students.

The train was just beginning to move when the door to the compartment opened and two students, a boy and a girl Harry had not met yet before, looked inside.

They looked younger, and Harry guessed they belonged in the first year.

Seeing a much older boy in the compartment, one of the students, the boy, asked nervously:  
"Err... Excuse us… would it be possible to sit here… every other carriage seems to be full?"

Harry looked at the newcomers and smiled. "Sure, come on in. First time at Hogwarts?" he asked.

Hearing the invitation, the two students became visibly calmer.  
"Thanks, yes, it's our first year," the boy answered.

Looking at the girl, Harry decided that she looked like a slightly different version of Susan Bones.  
Then this must be…

Harry's eyes widened slightly but he was able to hide it before the two students could notice anything.  
Holding out his hand, he offered it to the two students.

"Hi, I'm Harry," he said, purposefully leaving out his surname. "And you're... Amelia Bones... right," he said to the girl, "and you must be ….?" he asked.

The two students looked at him with surprise. The girl was beginning to blush slightly.

"Er… yes, my name is Amelia, how did you know?" the girl asked shyly, really surprised that this stranger would somehow know her.

"I'm John, her brother," said the boy, who was giving Harry a careful glance before taking his hand.

"Oh, I just have good hearing and some older students talk a lot," said Harry kindly as he leaned back in his seat.

"So what house do you think you will be in?" Harry asked, although he already knew the real answer.

"Oh, I don't know, probably Ravenclaw, I like to read a lot," John said smugly.

"I see… and you, Susan?" Harry asked, forgetting for a second that it was Amelia in front of him and not Susan, her niece, Harry's old school friend.

"I'm Amelia…" she said, frowning, "…and oh… I would be surprised if I didn't go into Hufflepuff, most of my family are all Puffs… it's either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw for me."

"Oh right… sorry," said Harry as he realised his brief slip up, then he smiled.  
It felt just like yesterday that he heard Susan say just the same thing, though the Ravenclaw part was new.

"I'd say you will definitely be a Puff," he said after a second or two.

"I hope so, I'd hate her to be in a different house like … maybe Sytherin, though Ravenclaw would be ok," John said with pure dislike in his voice for Slytherin house.

"I take it you don't like Slytherins," Harry asked.

"No, I don't… not really, are you one?" John asked darkly.

"No… not yet at least," Harry answered.

"What house are you in, directly?" Amelia asked. "I can't see any colours and you are older so…"

"He's going to be in Gryffindor," said Sirius's voice from the door.

He had just opened the door of the compartment. "If you know what's good for you, that is," he added.  
Harry looked up and said, "And what if I do get put into Slytherin?"

"Er… then… er…" Sirius started to say.

"Then that would be a great shame," came James's voice, who had just poked his head into the compartment, a smile on his face.  
"You don't want to be in Slytherin… do you?" he asked uncertainly.

"Well… I do have some of the trademarks… who knows… what are you are going to do about it if it happens?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows.

James looked at Sirius. "What does he mean by that?"  
John was looking at Harry, asking himself directly the same question.

"Well let's see now, I can speak Parseltongue," said Harry.

"WHAT! You can speak Parseltongue?" James screamed.

"Yes, I can… and I do have a snake as a familiar, so… I guess that makes me half Slytherin," Harry said calmly.

"Hey Sirius, is that true? You never told me my long lost twin had a snake," James asked with a great disappointed look on his face.

"I…well… it must have slipped my mind, but yes it's true, her name is Prelinger…or something like that," Sirius answered.

"She's called Pryditor, Lady Pryditor, and you would do well to remember that. She doesn't forgive easily," Harry said, just as Pry stuck her head out of his robes, which made Amelia scream and John jump up with fright.

_Did you call, Master_? she hissed.

_No Pry, I was just correcting my friends here, they were having slight difficulties with your name if you can believe it_, Harry hissed back.

John and Amelia's faces went white with fear and they left the compartment in a hurry.

"Come take a seat," Harry said, smiling and motioning his father and his godfather inside.

Noticing that they were hesitating, Harry added, "I promise you she won't bite."

_Don't bite them ever, they are all friends… in fact they are family_, he quickly said to Pry.

V_ery well… if you will excuse me, I'm rather tired, somebody… kind of woke me up rather early this morning… rather rudely too, if I may add_, she hissed and with that Pry's head disappeared back into Harry's robes.

_Dream well_, Harry answered, slightly amused.

_Thanks, I will_, came a muffled hiss from inside his robes.

Seeing that Pry had returned to the warm areas of Harry's robes, James and Sirius relaxed and slowly entered the compartment and sat down beside Harry.

"What did you say to her?" Sirius asked, interested after he had taken his seat.

"Oh nothing much, just told her you were having problems remembering her name and not to bite you, nothing special," Harry answered.

"Oh, well… that's good… for a second I thought you were going to let her… well you know…" Sirius said, slightly relieved.

Harry smiled, "Oh don't worry, I will personally make sure that she will never bite you… I promise you that on my magic and my life," Harry said sincerely. He was happy that Peter wasn't with them. It wasn't hard to make a promise which you would never dream to break and a second later Harry saw the tell tale flash of the Unbreakable Vow taking affect.

James and Sirius calmed down immensely after hearing Harry say that and soon they began talking about what happened the last day.  
"So Harry, what really happened in Ollivander's yesterday?" Sirius asked after a while.

"Just what you saw, I waved the wand Ollivander gave me and… well… I… all you have to do is read the _Daily Prophet_, they have it all there," Harry said uneasily.

"Oh come on, Harry, if that was an accident, then I'm most likely your long dead father who just came back out of his grave… what really happened?" James asked, not believing a word Harry had said.

Harry raised his eyebrows and considered his father for a while. _I wonder if he has any idea just how close he is to the truth_, he thought to himself.

Harry, Sirius, and James continued to talk for a while until the door to their compartment opened and another student came inside.  
From his uniform he looked like a Slytherin.

"Hey, is it true that someone in here can speak Parseltongue?" the boy called out as he entered the compartment.

"None of your business, Nott," said James.

"Yes, get out, Nott," said Sirius, drawing his wand and pointing it at the boy.

"Shut up, Black, you traitor," said Nott as he too drew his wand. Behind him two other students, both Slytherins, also drew their wands.

"Get out now!" said James, standing up.

"Or else what," drawled Nott.

"Or else you will all get detention for the next two weeks, for threatening the Head Boy, a Gryffindor, and a new student," said James, taking out his badge and pinning it on his chest.

Harry, who had been watching and listening, turned his head to look at James.  
Of course, his father had been Head Boy in his seventh year, Harry reminded himself.

Nott looked at James and snarled. "I couldn't care if you were Dumbledore himself, all I wanted to do was talk to the new kid. You have no right to take points or give detention for that.

"I can for you threatening him with a wand," said James angrily.

Harry, afraid of where this confrontation could lead to, decided to step in.  
"Look, everybody please stop… I realise I'm new here… and I probably don't understand much of what's happening here… but surely we can settle this civilly… right?" he asked.

"But Harry… he's a…" said Sirius. Harry put his hand up and silenced his godfather.

"I couldn't care less what he is," said Harry, then turning to face Nott he added:  
"Ok Nott, what do you want?" he said not unkindly.

Nott smiled smugly at James and Sirius and held out his hand to Harry.  
"Is it true that you can speak Parseltongue?" he asked.

"Yes, that's true, why?" asked Harry, taking Nott's hand.

"You know you don't have to sit with them… don't you?" Nott asked, motioning towards James and Sirius, who were both staring at Nott angrily.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Harry, with a slight edge to his voice, unceremoniously taking his hand away from Nott again.

Nott's smile faded after hearing Harry's slight menace in his voice but he kept his cool.  
"Nothing, all I'm saying is that you obviously belong in Slytherin, not with these Mudblood lovers," Nott said.

"How can you be sure about that?" Harry asked, angrily raising his eyebrows at Nott.

"Is he serious?" asked one of the other Slytherins from behind Nott. "Surely he can see that…"

"Not now," hissed Nott angrily.

Harry, deciding that he had had enough, stopped the conversation.  
"Listen, would it be ok if we finished this conversation later?" he asked.

Nott looked angrily at his friend and slowly nodded. "Sure, you can find us in compartment five... down the corridor to the right… if you ever get…"

"Yes, yes, thanks, I'll remember that," said Harry, waving them away.

Scowling angrily, Nott and the two other Slytherins left the corridor but not before one of the boys managed to say, "We're not finished yet."  
A second later they were gone.

Sighing, Harry sat back down again while Sirius and James put away their wands.  
For the next few minutes the new trio just looked at each other silently, then Harry stood up.  
"Listen lads… I'll be back in a second… just need to relieve myself… I'll be back in a jiffy."

Seeing James and Sirius nod in reply, Harry left the compartment and went to the toilet.  
Inside, he was just about to finish when he heard one of the Slytherin boys who had accompanied Nott and who had threatened him speak from behind.

"Gotcha, Mudblood lover…" and in a split second, before Harry could even react, he felt a sharp pain. A second later everything went dark and he fell to the ground.

* * *


	7. The Crazy Sorting Ceremony

**Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 7 **

**The Crazy Sorting Ceremony**

* * *

**Story Beta'd by: RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination**

**Disclaimer:As before, I don't own Harry, I don't own his friends, I don't own the whole Harry Potter world.**

* * *

Harry woke up in a bit of a daze. He really didn't feel too well. His thumping head was all the evidence he needed. Slowly, wondering what had just happened, Harry came back to his senses. At first he just lay on the ground with a huge headache, trying to figure out what had just happened, when it all came back to him.  
With a silent groan, Harry opened his eyes. 

_This is not what I had in mind, _he thought angrily to himself, and for a short while, he just lay there staring up at the ceiling as he tried to decide what to do next, besides rising back off the floor.

It did not really take long before he heard an angry hiss coming from his robes.

_Ah, I feel you're awake… good… could you please be so kind as to get off me?  
I don't know how you would feel, but I don't fancy being squashed here_, came Pry's muffled voice.

She sounded quite angry, but nonetheless also quite patient, for which Harry was thankful. He may be immune to Pry's poison due to their bonding, but her bite could still hurt.

Harry relaxed his head on the ground for a second, then, with a sigh, he got to his feet.  
Immediately, Pry, who was now able to move again, popped her head out of Harry's robes and looked at Harry's face.

For the next minute or two she simply studied her beaten master.  
She could see that Harry had a few cuts, a few bruises, and a rather large bump on his head where he had been hit.

_So are you all right?_ she asked kindly a few seconds later. _You don't look so good._  
A question which prompted Harry to take a good look at himself in a nearby mirror.

_Nope…I'm not ok,_ he answered, frowning…_In fact, I'm darn well angry_, he added.

Pry slithered up and out of his robes just when Icetasia iced into the room and both came to a stop on top of his skin. Silently they waited for Harry to respond.  
It was clear what Pry was thinking… one word: Vendetta.  
Icetasia, however, took one look at Harry and flew to the open wound on his head. A few tears later and the wound was gone.

Waving his hand over his remaining injuries, Harry quickly healed himself with some wandless magic. Then, he turned to look at his familiars.

"Thanks, Icey," he said, running a hand down her soft feathers. The phoenix responded by giving one of his fingers a quick loving nip, then trilling slightly, she sprang into the air and iced away again.

_You know what_…Harry said after a while with a glint appearing in his eyes. _I think it's time we showed those Slytherins who is boss_. _Do you agree?_ he asked Pry.

Pry looked at him as if considering something.

_So… Slytherins did this_, she asked.

_Sure did_, Harry replied.

_Ok… let's get them_, Pry answered with calm determination.  
_Nobody attacks my master and gets away with it_, she thought to herself, _not even a spawn of the great Salazar Slytherin… especially not them_, she mused.

_Oh… er… Pry… ?_

_Yess, Master._

_Please don't kill them… ok?_

_Why not?_

_Do I really need to give you a reason?_

Pry thought for a second, then answered, _I guess not_.

Harry frowned. _You guess_?

Pry paused for a second then answered, _I know_.

_Good… now… let's get 'em_, Harry said, and together with Pry secured firmly around his neck and around his shoulder, they left the lavatory in search of their prey.

Harry left the toilet and systematically made his way down the corridor, searching for compartment five. At least that was where he hoped to find his previous Slytherin visitors, since that is where they said they would be.

Twice while on his way, he met two students walking along the corridor, alone, but each quickly stepped into the nearest compartments they could find with wide fearful eyes as soon as they saw him approach, or rather as soon as they noticed Pry around his neck. Harry could well picture what a fearsome sight he and his snake must be making.

Harry's eyes had turned red, and his body had started to glow slightly, though only someone looking directly at him would have noticed a difference. He was now in hunt mode. A gift from his master, from a master to his apprentice, 'Hunt Sight,' let Harry see perfectly in the dark and even let him see heat signatures through walls. As an added effect, Harry was now also able to see through Invisibility Cloaks or other forms of magical concealment.

Stepping up to compartment five, Harry stopped and took a deep breath.  
A sudden grin appeared over his face and he used his shape-shifting skills to grow a pair of long red horns out of his head. _I am the devil's apprentice, after all_, he mused as he decided against a red tail.

_Ready Pry?_ he asked softly, looking fondly at the snake around his shoulder.

Pry nodded in acknowledgment, a predatorial gleam radiating from her eyes.

_Ok_!

* * *

With a sudden powerful burst of wandless magic, Harry blew open the compartment door with a resounding crash and stepped inside. 

Quickly, he threw up a shield and deflected five incoming spells, which all seemed to come from different angles.

With a small, leisurely, halfhearted flick of his hand, Harry quickly Disarmed everybody in the room, then stepping forward, he levitated the boy who had threatened him earlier on into the air and held him in place. He was now dangling high in the air, unable to do anything but look down stupidly.

One Slytherin, who noticed that he had lost his wand, made a move to punch Harry. Harry didn't seem to care: he phased and the hand flew right through him, never even grazing him. Seeing this, a lot of the Slytherins gasped out in horror while the eyes of the Slytherin who had tried to punch him opened up, wide with fear. Harry just smiled, phased in again, and leisurely cast a Full Body Binding Charm on the boy who had attacked him, while everybody just watched in complete and utter shock.

Slowly, the boy swayed forward and fell over flat on his face onto the ground.

The rest of the surprised Slytherins were either unsure of what to do or too afraid to act. Either way, they decided to just look and study Harry warily with wide-open eyes. It was clear that his long horns were disturbing them greatly.

Seeing that Harry now had the situation fully under his fiery-handed control, Pry, who had phased with Harry at the time, looked around, hissed wildly, then slithered down Harry's robes and came to a stop directly in front of the boy who Harry had levitated into the air.

Hungrily she looked up with eager, greedy eyes, flicking her tongue out randomly, enjoying his taste.

Seeing this, quite a few Slytherins turned ghostly white and stared to sweat.

"Hmmm, Pry here seems to like you," Harry said to the Slytherin, while looking around the room, his red eyes glowing eerily in the darkened compartment. He really was enjoying himself. He relished in their fear.

The boy in the air gulped loudly and looked as if he would faint any second.

"What do you want?" asked another Slytherin nearby weakly.

"You know, I'd prefer to know your name, if I'm going to talk to you?" Harry asked, coldly turning to face the Slytherin, pleasantly surprised to see a relatively 'brave' Slytherin… or maybe that was just innocent stupidity… both were possible, but Harry didn't really care.

Gulping slightly, the Slytherin looked taken aback by Harry's directness, but he continued anyway. " I...I'm... Avery… please, what do you want?" Avery asked again shakily, stuttering along the way.

Harry glared at the boy, frightening him even more. "Well… Avery… call me Harry, and it's like this. One of your stupid friends here, probably this coward up there," Harry said, motioning towards the boy who was hovering in the air, who winced and gulped painfully when Harry motioned towards him, "had the unwise and unfortunate, unhealthy desire to threaten and attack me while I was in the toilet.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I don't usually enjoy people attacking me when I'm in that type of… situation… I can only presume it's the same with you," Harry said in a dangerously sweet voice, which made the Slytherins gulp even more.

"Now, I'm going to make myself perfectly clear, and I'm only going to say this once."

"I may have no problems with any of the houses in Hogwarts, be it Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or bloody Slytherin… nor do I care whether you're a Pureblood, Halfblood, Muggle-born, Halfbreed or just plain simple Muggle… I couldn't even care less… but… " Harry paused for a second to let his particular little message sink in.

Applying a Sonorus Charm, he continued to speak:

"But... IF ANY OF YOU BASTARDS EVER DOES AS MUCH AS THREATEN OR ATTACK ME, my friends, or my snake … EVER AGAIN… Well… then I promise you…

"I will personally make sure that your worthless miserable lives will be worse than Hell…

"AND THAT'S A PROMISE!!!" Harry screamed and sent a blue bolt of highly charged electricity into the hovering Slytherin, making him yelp loudly and his hair stand on end as the bolt travelled through him.

Harry cancelled the charm and continued speaking in his normal voice:

"Oh, and believe me, lads… if you think you know what Hell's like… guess again. I know what it's like, I've been there and I'm pretty sure you have not.

"Don't tempt me.

"Do I make myself clear?" Harry said quietly.

No answer.

"I said do I make myself clear?" he said again.

"Yes," a lone Slytherin mumbled.

Harry sent several bolts of electricity towards different Slytherins in quick succession, making them all yelp several times from the painful shocks.

"Yes what?"

"Yes ...Sir!" came another mumble.

"I can't hear you!" he intoned sweetly.

"YES! SIR!" a few shaking Slytherins said meekly, too afraid to disobey, too scared and desperate not to be shocked again.

Harry gave the room another wide scale shock, making everybody yelp and jump into the air.  
Some of them now had tears in their eyes, which were freely running down their cheeks.

"Good… now… I'm getting a headache, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way… you have been warned."

With those last words Harry called Pry back to his shoulder and gave everybody in the room another parting high yield shock before he raised his hands over his head. With a flash and a crack of thunder which echoed through the train, he was gone.

A second later a flash could be seen originating from the Slytherin compartment. Harry had left a parting gift, a spell to alter everybody's minds so that they wouldn't be able to recall his immense power… only the fear, pain, and overwhelming humiliation which they had received, leaving behind a room of highly demoralised, stunned, trembling, silent, white-faced, and, in some cases, crying students.

A few minutes later, the levitated boy, now red-faced, stammering and completely humiliated, who now sprouted a pair of floppy donkey ears extending from his head, fell to the ground. A silent cold breeze swept through the compartment to signal the end of the occasion.

Hell hath no fury than the Devil's apprentice scorned!

* * *

Harry reappeared outside his former compartment. Changing his eyes back to green and re-shrinking his horns back into his head, he made his way back inside. 

"Was that you we just heard?" asked Sirius cheerfully. He seemed to be smiling, though his red, flushed face showed considerable evidence that he had been laughing only just a few minutes ago.

"Could be," Harry answered with a smirk. "Does it matter?"

"Gee, you really have a way with people, don't you!" said James smugly with a shrug.

"I'm not sure if there wasn't somebody in a five mile radius who didn't hear you," he joked. "I can't remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much," he said, a few small tears of mirth still in his eyes.

Harry did not answer him. He just raised his eyebrows in response and sat in his seat. Some statements were better off left unanswered.

A few hours later, Harry was waiting outside the Great Hall with the rest of the new students who had yet to be Sorted. He felt rather out of place amongst all of these younger students. Everybody around him was at least five to six years younger, but as a new, unsorted student, he had been asked… well… more like ordered to wait outside with the rest of the other new arrivals.

The rest of the train journey had been fairly uneventful. The Slytherins were either too afraid to retaliate, as would have been expected, or being Slytherin, they simply were too sly (and stupid) to get their own hands dirty in the process.

The second option turned out to be true, much to Harry's disgust and great annoyance.

**_:Flash back: _**

The train had come to a complete stop at Hogsmeade station, and Harry, James, and Sirius, who had been joined by Remus and Peter during the last hour, were busy in the process of finding a carriage which would take them to the castle.

The newly formed quintet had taken the carriages up to the school, and Harry was just about to walk inside the castle when an unfamiliar, yet annoyingly well-known voice rang out.  
"Harry Granger!" came the voice of one of the professors, who had tested Harry during his practicals.

Adrianna Orios Thornton, or just Professor or Ma'am as she liked to be called, was in Harry's book pure old Slytherin style, or as close to a second Snape as anyone could get.

This woman lived to favour, no… worship, anything with the name of Slytherin as long as it worshipped her back in return, and like Snape, she simply loved to take away points from other houses, wherever she could, whenever she could, for whatever reason, no matter now petty or otherwise irrelevant it might be.  
Especially from those who dare to threaten her precious Slytherins. Harry had of course disliked her on the spot.

"Yes, Professor?" Harry answered, keeping his otherwise evident disgust from showing in his voice, though he really did not feel like it.  
Like Snape, this woman smelled like trouble and you could smell this trouble from afar, as it had a greasy rancid tinge to it.

"What's this I hear about a new student causing trouble on the train?" she asked in her usual stern voice.

Harry calmed himself before answering. "Excuse me, Professor, but I don't know what you're talking about," he lied, while trying to use his best innocent look.

"DON'T lie to me, Granger," she intoned in her usual high-pitched voice, coming to a direct stop in front of Harry

"With all due respect, Professor, if this is because of the little incident on the train… all I did was defend myself…" Harry started to say even though he knew it was useless and a wasted breath.

_Well, I did attack more than who had attacked me_, he reminded himself. _Maybe I deserve this,_ he thought to himself. Either way, Thornton quickly put her hand up to silence him.

"I don't have time for this now, but you will lose your future house fifty points for this despicable act, AND I'll see you in detention next Thursday … Is that clear?" she asked.

"But Professor, he…" James started to say.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for speaking out of turn and if you say another word I'll make sure that I'll have that nice shiny badge of yours too," Thornton said, a cruel smile on her face, which quickly shut James up.

"Now, would anyone else like to add to that?" she asked sweetly, dangerously.

" No… what a pity…Ok…Granger…I'll see you later…" and with that she walked away.

"Like a Slytherin, like a bitch," Harry mumbled to himself angrily, as he continued his walk into the school_. Too bad I only have permission to kill four people in this time, _he thought as he continued towards the entrance, a furious James and Co. trailing behind him, already busy planning an act of revenge on the Slytherins in the near future.

It was promising to be an interesting year.

**_:End of Flash back:_**

* * *

Standing with the younger students, Harry was busy talking to one of the school's ghosts, the Grey Lady, when Minerva, now much younger though already Deputy Headmistress, opened the door and stepped out in front of the new students. She wore her usual emerald green robed outfit, which she was so fond of in the future, though there were a few differences such as that it was a different model. 

Harry was amused to note that even twenty years younger, she still wore the same old stern scowl._ Ah home sweet home, _he thought. He was the only one in the crowd of new students who did not seem to be scared of her.  
Minerva studied them for a short while, gave Harry a small nod of recognition and a half smile, then she started to speak:

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you, like many others before you, will be Sorted into your houses. This will be done with the help of a magical item known as the Sorting Hat.

"The Sorting Ceremony is very important because while you are here, your house will be like your family, your home away from home. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses of our family are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Through the years each house has created its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards since the foundation of the school. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded a prestigious prize known as the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each and every one of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

McGonagall paused to let her words sink in, then she continued:

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. Contrary to popular belief, I am sure most of you will be relieved to hear that you do not have to fight a mountain troll or other such nonsense to get Sorted.

"Now, I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I will return shortly. In the meantime, please wait quietly…oh and tuck in that shirt please… Mr… Somme… and for goodness' sake tidy up your hair, Miss Reese, yes you, this is a school, not a sandbox," she said, scowling angrily at two young students, a tiny eleven-year-old boy and girl, who winced and tried to hide behind a few other students away from the stern professor.  
With those last few words, she left the room and returned to the Great Hall.

As soon as the door had closed again, everybody started to speak in loud whispers.

Almost everybody was relieved that they would not have to fight a troll, or duel in front of the entire school, though there were a few more mature students who just rolled their eyes at the stupidity of their peers.

Harry just watched them quietly and listened to the conversations with amusement. It felt good to be back home again and unlike his first year, this time round he knew what was about to happen next.

The doors reopened again shortly and everybody was ushered into the Great Hall.

Harry's feet wanted to follow their practiced instinct and steer him to his normal, old spot at the Gryffindor table, but Harry quickly diverted himself and continued along the Hall with the rest of the new students.

As expected, quite a few older students were watching him and pondering what this evidently older boy was doing in a crowd of first years.

Harry had different worries at that moment than what his fellow classmates were thinking, although he did wave to James and the rest of the Gryffindor gang. He was just about to be Sorted, after all… again.

Last time the hat wanted to put him into Slytherin, and he was only put into Gryffindor because he had explicitly asked Gideon, the floppy little Sorting Hat, to put him into that house.

Now he would have to worry about the same problem all over again and he couldn't help but worry that maybe this time everything would be different. The fact that he had spent a lot of time with the Darkest being known to exist was not really a good reference except for the Dark, power hungry house of Slytherin, but Harry knew he was also the heir of Gryffindor… _Surely the heir of Gryffindor could only go into his own house…right_? he asked himself.

Somehow he wasn't too sure about that.

_Maybe I can influence it once again_, Harry wondered as he put his formidable Occlumency shields on full.

Harry waited while the hat sang its usual song, not paying it a lot of attention. He was still making his plans to persuade the hat to put him back into Gryffindor when…

"Goodheart, Naomi!"  
"… Ravenclaw!!!"

"Granger, Harry!"

Harry jumped as if he had been stung… he never noticed that so many had already been called up before him.

Immediately upon hearing his adopted name, the whole Hall burst into a torrent of excited whispers.  
_Well, that hasn't changed, _thought Harry, as he began to walk forward. _Oh of course, I shouldn't be surprised after what happened in Diagon Alley yesterday, _Harry reminded himself, shaking his head. He had, after all, practically ruined Ollivander's.

He was still famous, though only for a different reason. _Well at least this one isn't as bad as being the Boy-Who-Lived, _he reminded himself.

Just as he reached the chair and before he was given the hat to wear, the Hall quieted down again as Minerva, having taken a piece of parchment out of her robes, began to speak.

"Now, before Harry here is Sorted, I have been asked to inform you all that…"

Reading from the piece of parchment, while at the same time addressing the crowd, Minerva continued to speak:

"Harry is a transferring student, straight from America, from an advanced institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for exceptional students of great ability and achievements.

"Harry here, is a ... a… a sort of… Ministry test subject?…" she said, her voice changing into a questioning sour tone at the last few words.

Saying this, Minerva looked up and glanced at Dumbledore, who just shrugged in reply.  
The whispers and odd looks in the Hall increased.  
Harry, however, kept a straight unreadable expression on his face as his former head of house glanced down at him.

Scowling, clearly not happy with the matter, Minerva turned back to the parchment, which she then continued to read:

"Anyway, as I was saying… according to this… letter, Harry, is a sort of a top secret test…" she sighed, then continued: "…which the American Department of Mysteries is currently conducting in a joint operation with our own government. As such we have been advised to warn each and every one of you that strange things may occur around Harry and that he can not be held responsible for any… accidental flares of exceptional magic…

"Is this for real, Albus?" she cried out, facing Dumbledore again, loosing her normally stern exterior. Dumbledore just looked apologetically at Minerva and nodded.

"Yes Minerva, it seems to be real. I didn't want to believe it either at first, but officials from both Ministries have given their ' Okays' for the project. As such, Harry here will be allowed to stay… I am sorry but as such, at least for now, my hands are tied."

Sighing, Minerva once again turned back to the parchment before putting it away in disgust.

"No matter," she said, turning back to face the students, reasserting her 'don't-mess-with-me-and-we-will-get-along-fine expression'. She improvised: "All that you need to know is that Harry is a new seventh year student who will be joining us for his final year.

"Everyone has been asked to be extra careful around Harry, but to treat him like one of our own."_ Not bloody likely after this announcement,_ she thought, disgusted, cursing secretly in her mind before continuing once more_, "_The Ministry doesn't expect anything to happen during his brief stay with us, but just in case, you have been warned.

"Harry will of course still be subject to normal house rules and restrictions such as the house point system, detentions, and other sanctions," she quickly added.

"Oh yes, and don't bother asking him about the project, as Harry has been sworn into secrecy by magical oath not to answer certain questions," she added, remembering that line from the letter.

"Now, let's get on with the Sorting, Mr. Granger, if you would," she said, placing the hat over Harry's head.

Immediately the whole Hall went deathly quiet.

Harry was extremely happy with himself. While meeting with Dumbledore he had fed him all of the lies about his actions with the Ministry. This small letter was his answer to Dumbledore's 'legal' requirements. As for the Ministry spokesperson, it is amazing what a well-placed Memory Charm can do, if performed by the right people, especially if performed by the Devil's personal apprentice.

With this letter and a simple Memory Charm, Harry had effectively granted himself partial immunity for the entire school year. Not only that, but this also gave a valid reason for his superior powers and any… 'unforeseen accidents' which may occur, should he be caught during his all so unfortunate 'executions.'

_Now to the hat, _Harry mused as it was placed over his head.

* * *

The moment the hat touched his head, Harry felt the familiar sensation of somebody or something trying to read his mind, only much stronger than usual, much stronger, and incredibly focused. However, the hat, while it was incredibly powerful, was still fallible. 

A normal trained Occlumens would have failed miserably against it. Harry, however, was a different piece of cake altogether. Trained by one, the greatest Occlumens and the other, the greatest Legilimens of all time, Harry, as a level seven Occlumens, had more than enough experience and mind strength to keep the hat out of his head. The Devil himself was a level nine, ten being the highest level achievable.

(Dumbledore was a level four while Snape and Voldemort were both level five Occlumens… a normal wizard or witch would only reach level two, a skilled wizard or witch, level three, while Merlin himself had reached the legendary nine to tie with the Devil… an unheard of feat. The Sorting Hat could successfully read minds up to level five, since that was what Godric had been, so Harry had more than enough to keep it out.)

"Well… this is strange," said a voice in his head, which Harry recognised as the hat's.

_What's strange, Gideon?_ Harry asked with a mental smile. He could feel the hat's confusion.

"How do you know my name?" Gideon asked, surprised.

_Oh come on, Gideon… don't you recognise the heir of Gryffindor when you're placed on his head?_ Harry asked. Harry was beginning to enjoy himself.

"The heir of… what?"

_Gryffindor, Gideon, Gryffindor_.

"Are you serious?"

_Sure am_.

A small pause.

"Well… sorry…as much as I'd like to believe you… even if you are the heir as you say you are, I can't just place you into any house without seeing your abilities and inner thoughts… besides, how do I know you're saying the truth, it just wouldn't be right… You do understand… right?

On the other hand, you seem to be quite sly… quite cunning even…. in such situations it… wouldn't it better be…. "

_WAIT_, Harry screamed mentally. He didn't know what the hat had in mind. He was not about to risk everything, not now.

"Wait?... why?" Gideon asked. "It's clear that you're too sly for your own good… as such only… "

Harry gulped; he did not like what he had just heard.

_Not so fast, how did you come to that conclusion… like you said, you haven't even tested me yet… how can you be sure about that?_ Harry asked. He hoped that he had not just made a very large mistake.

"Well I would, but for some odd reason I can't," Gideon answered.

_You can't?_

"Yes I can't… and to place you into your right house I need to see your mind… The fact that you tried to manipulate me suggests that you have a sly mind and with…"

_Why's that?..._

"Why's what?... that you have a sly mind?"

_No… that you can't see my mind?_ Harry asked, trying to buy himself some time to think up a way to convince the hat, short of letting the hat into his mind.

"I don't know… it's never happened before."

_So… if I understand correctly… currently, you will not be able to Sort me… and as such you think it's right to put me, the heir of Gryffindor, into ... what… Slytherin? … Come on, surely you can't be that…er…can't do that …can you?... You can't possibly Sort me… not like that!_ Harry said. Harry was starting to get desperate at this point, but he still didn't want to let the hat into his mind… it was a risk which he knew he had to take.

"Yes… that's the idea… rule number forty two set up by Salazar himself, if not sure, anybody who shows cunning and shows the ability of manipulation shall go to Slytherin."

_Oh great, _thought Harry, his fears were being confirmed. He had to stop it… somehow.

Both were silent for a while, then the hat, sensing the uneasiness of the crowd around him, started to speak again:

"You do realise that we can't continue until I can look into your memories… right … don't you?" the hat said, becoming slightly nervous. "I promise you I won't tell anybody about what I see. I can't. I'm magically bound not to."

_I know_. _It's just, I can't let you see what's in here_, said Harry apologetically. _I promised not to_, Harry said awkwardly.

"Well then I'm sorry, Harry, but I'm afraid I can't Sort you."

_Are you serious_, Harry asked after a few seconds, for the first time slightly worried.

Gideon didn't answer.

_Gideon_?

"I'm sorry, Harry, but that's the way it is," Gideon answered.

_Oh my…! I can't believe it… what now…this can take a while_, Harry thought to himself.

_Gideon_…

"Yes."

_Gideon…listen…wouldn't it be possible to bend the rules slightly…just this once and Sort me into Gryffindor?_

Deathly silence.

_Gideon_?

No reply, then:

"So sorry, Harry, but it's either Slytherin or access to your mind," the hat answered.

_Oh,_ Harry thought. _May I think about it_?

"Sure," Gideon said, amused as it settled down to wait.  
And wait they did. Moreover, so did the rest.

One minute, two minutes… it had been ten minutes since Harry had started talking to the hat. People in the Hall were beginning to fidget, while Harry was considering his options.  
He knew he couldn't let anybody or anything see into his mind, he had promised the beings above that he wouldn't …but he wanted to be in Gryffindor. He needed to be in Gryffindor. True, some of his targets were in Slytherin, most of them in fact, but…then there was also the other. Besides, his parents and other friends were in Gryffindor, his enemies, in Slytherin. Three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, a few students were beginning to talk amongst themselves, and were receiving glares from several professors.

After ten more minutes of waiting most of the inhabitants of the Hall were busy chatting amongst themselves, but still the hat made no attempt to speak.

After fifteen minutes some of the teachers started to twitch, at twenty, Minerva finally grew tired and walked over to chat with Dumbledore.

After a brief chat, Dumbledore stood up and addressed the school. It was now forty-three minutes since Harry had put on the hat.  
His eyes were twinkling with amusement as he started to speak.

"Due to… interesting circumstances, it has been decided to start the welcome back feast ahead of schedule while we wait for the Sorting Hat to make its all-so-difficult decision…

"Will all of the unsorted students please take a seat anywhere in the Hall, while we wait for the hat to come to a decision and Sort poor Harry here. As soon as he is Sorted, we will interrupt the feast and continue with the rest of the Sorting."

The unsorted students and most of the Hall sighed in relief and the unsorted students quickly sat down wherever they could find a free seat and with a clap of Dumbledore's hands food appeared on all of the tables.

* * *

Everybody was eating happily… everybody?… No!… one lone, now very annoyed student, was sitting on a stool, an old hat on his head, not considering where, but how to be Sorted. 

_This is not what I had in mind,_ Harry said to himself angrily.

The hat made no reply; it seemed to be sleeping.  
After about ten more minutes had passed, making it a total of fifty-three minutes since Harry had put on the hat, Harry finally gave up.  
He could smell the food and his stomach was rumbling angrily in protest.

_That's it… I'm bored, I'm hungry, I'm tired, stiff from sitting on this bloody stool and over all I'm in a bad mood…_ he thought angrily to himself.  
He was just about to accept 'Slytherin' when he had an idea.

_Gideon…as the heir of Gryffindor, I order you in my authority as his heir to Sort me into Gryffindor_, Harry cried out, mentally commanding the hat to Sort him.

No reply, just a few snores answered his call.

Harry groaned. _Listen to me… hat… if you don't Sort me immediately… I will personally make sure that you will wish to never have been made,_ he said, trying to intimidate the hat.

"Oh… and what, may I ask, would you do?" Gideon asked sweetly, having woken up.

_Listen, Gideon, ok…I'm the heir of Godric Gryffindor, your creator, I order you by my right as an heir to Sort me into Gryffindor_, Harry ordered hopefully.

"Hmmm… nope, though it was tempting," the hat answered.

_Ok fun's over… now Sort me_, Harry said, his anger rising to the surface; he was running out of options.

"Slytherin?" Gideon asked.

_Damn it, Gideon…you're a Sorting Hat, not a five year old_, Harry said furiously

"I'm 1123 years old," Gideon retorted forcefully, "and as I said I can't…"

…_Sort me correctly unless I open up my mind to you… yes I know_, Harry finished off, defeated.

"Precisely!" said the hat.

Harry sighed…_I hate to do this…but…_ he thought.  
_Ok… you asked for it,_ Harry said, and with that, Harry sent a mental burst of a highly concentrated feedback Stinging Hex right into the hat, via their temporary mental connection.

"OUCH," Gideon yelped, startling the whole Hall and making everybody jump in surprise. Quickly everybody turned to face Harry and the hat.

"What was that? YeOUCH!" Gideon screamed again as Harry sent another mental hex through the link.  
At the staff table, Dumbledore dropped his fork and stood up…

"Ok, Ok, Ok," Gideon said quickly, whining, "but I really need to be able to see into your mind," he added, pleading with Harry.

"The founders put a spell on me to stop me from Sorting anybody unless I look into their minds," the hat pleaded.

Harry was floored. He didn't know what to do anymore. All of his options were gone.  
With an audible sigh he was just about to finally surrender himself into Slytherin, when he received a last idea.

_You know what, I have a better idea,_ Harry answered, sending the hat his idea via their link.  
_This might just make the wait worthwhile_, Harry thought to himself as he waited for the hat's reply.

"You can't be serious," Gideon exclaimed, having read Harry's suggestion.

_You bend the rules, give me access to every house just liked I showed you, and I'll stop hexing you… deal?_

"You can't be serious…" the hat said again.

_Deal?_ Harry asked again.

"But…"

_Gideon!…_

With a sigh, afraid of what the boy beneath would do otherwise, Gideon finally relented… "OK."

_Good… now… proceed, I am waiting… and remember, the year's long and the headmaster's office can be an easy place to enter_, Harry threatened sternly.

Gideon thought for a second then he opened the slit on the top of his head.  
Immediately the whole Hall fell quiet and every head turned and waited with bated breath for the highest awaited announcement of the century… perhaps even millennium.  
Gideon thought for a few more seconds, then spoke:

"You know, this really is a most extraordinary and very embarrassing moment for me… "

"You don't say," said a Gryffindor from the middle of the Hall, which made a few people laugh.

"Yes…well," the hat continued… "I think I may need some more time…"

Several spoons, forks and knifes in the hall clattered to the table, and several students had their mouths open in pure shock… others, their mouths filled with food, which they had also opened only to quickly close them again.

Noticing Harry's rising annoyance, Gideon continued to speak quickly. "However, after nearly an hour of persuasive deliberations, Harry here has become… fairly upset with me and is unwilling to wait any longer," Gideon said, a statement which caused quite a few people to chuckle and a few others to laugh. Even some of the staff had grins on their faces.

_Damn right,_ thought Harry.

"After considerable debating, I have come to the conclusion that… NO HOUSE IS WORTHY FOR THIS STUDENT… as such I admit defeat for the very first time and refuse to Sort this individual." With that, Gideon fell silent.

To say that the Hall was stunned would have been an understatement.  
Total and utter disbelief would have fit it more.

The whole room just stared at Harry in complete silence. This had never happened before… in the full thousand and so years that the school had been in existence, the hat had never ever failed to Sort a student before... until now. The impossible and unthinkable had become possible.

"Hah, got ya!" Gideon said just before Minerva took him off Harry's head.  
Harry, in his shock, never had time to send him a parting hex. The hat had disobeyed him, the hat had refused to Sort him, and he was furious.

"Now what?" he asked, keeping his temper, looking up at his perplexed former head of house. He was interested to find out what would happen next.  
The woman in question just shrugged and looked at him with a lost dazed look.

Her usual stern, know-an-answer-to-almost-everything demeanour, looked suddenly lost and out of place.  
This was clearly one of those 'almost' moments.

* * *

The rest of the Sorting went by quickly, without any further problems, though Harry was sure that this incident would go into Hogwarts history.  
_The Boy Who Lived, also known as: The-Boy-Who-Ruined- Ollivander's was now also The-Boy-Who-Couldn't-Be-Sorted, how wonderful,_ _well, without the Boy Who Lived part since they wouldn't know who I really was._

_One part of the book, _Hogwarts, A History_, which I have to read once I get back to my own time, _Harry told himself as he finally got to eat his share of the feast. Dumbledore had allowed Harry to choose where he wanted to sit for its duration and of course Harry had quickly chosen a seat beside the Marauders, James on one side and, unfortunately, Peter on the other.

The rest of the Gryffindors were not sure what to make of this new, unknown, unsorted entity in their midst, but when, not only James, but also quite a few other Gryffindors welcomed him, the rest soon followed.

In the end Harry was chatting quite happily with most of the table, including his mother, who Harry was pleased to note had made Head Girl that year. He had always wondered how his parents had come so close to each other in their final year. This was surely the answer.

As Head Boy and Girl, you not only got to wear a cool badge, got to boss people around, take away but not give points, give detentions and have extra privileges, but you also had your own private apartment… which, while not the same bed, you got to share it with the other head.

Two topics seemed to be high on the agenda that night: the Ollivander incident and what had happened a few minutes ago with the hat. Once again, as usual, Harry was the focal point of attention, but for once, he took it with amusement. The whole table seemed to be heavily in awe of him and not to be overlooked, fairly frightened too.

After James had retold the story of Ollivander's from his point of view, whenever Harry was asked a question which he did not like or otherwise did not want to answer, all he had to do was claim the information secret and as such under the official Secrecy Act. That, disregarding the fact that there were quite a few new faces staring at him from all sides, made Harry feel right at home.

At the staff table, the professors were all together, huddled around Dumbledore and busy discussing a certain topic, which Harry guessed to be the dilemma of where to put a certain student, namely himself. They all, with the exception of Dumbledore, who had a slight smile, looked quite unhappy about their little problem, though none were as unhappy as a certain Slytherin professor.

Thornton was fuming. Harry didn't show it, but inwardly she was cursing him.  
This student had somehow found a way around her punishment of fifty points and she didn't like it at all. With no house to deduct points from, her punishment was now useless. She never knew how close she came to deducting those fifty points from Slytherin.

Well, at least she still had the Thursday detention. _That was something… right?_ she mused. Somehow it just didn't feel the same.

* * *

All good feasts have a few things in common.  
They all have to start; they all taste good, are fun, and they all come to an end.  
It was the same with this one. 

After the last pudding was served, the last cakes eaten and after the final dish had vanished from every table, courtesy of the hundred or so house-elves below them in the kitchens, the room became quiet as Dumbledore stood up to address the Hall.

"I am sure that at this stage, most of you must be quite tired and I presume that an equal amount of you must be looking forward to the cosy beds, which are waiting for you in your respective dorms, so I won't keep you for long.

"Needless to say, the little incident tonight, with a certain hat and, presumably, by now a fairly famous student, has extended the feast for over a good hour… so, without further ado… I would just like to give you the usual start-of-term notices:

"As always, first years…as some of the older students should by now remember… should note that the forest on the grounds is as the name suggests, forbidden to all pupils." Saying this he glanced across the room at James and the rest of the Marauders, who all waved across the room at him, earning disapproving glares from some of the professors, a twinkle from Dumbledore, and a few laughs from several students.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic is to be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch tryouts will as usual be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact their respective captains. The captains are posted on the main hall announcement board.

"I also have the pleasure to inform you that Madam Hooch is taking over as flying instructor this year, as Professor Jade has seen fit to retire. We wish him the best of luck in his early retirement.

"Finally, I would like to announce another change in our staff. Please welcome Professor Blake, who has kindly consented to take over Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"All that leaves me to say is have a good night and an enjoyable year.

"Prefects, please lead your respective houses to your dorms… Mr. Granger, Mr. Pettigrew, please remain behind."

* * *

Harry waited while the rest of the student body left the Hall to go to their respective dorms.  
Peter, however, stepped up to Harry. 

"Any idea what he wants from me?" Peter asked.

"No, but if I had to guess, it would be something to do with me," Harry answered. He wasn't very happy about having Peter near him, but he hid it well.

"Well, I haven't done anything wrong, or at least I don't think so… so that can't be it," said Peter, slightly worried. He was going through his memories of the latest pranks the Marauders had done, trying to consider what he could have done to have been caught this time. As a Marauder, you lived with the peril of being caught everyday.

"Mr. Granger, if you would please come up here, we need to get you Sorted, Mr. Pettigrew this concerns you too, so please follow," Dumbledore said, looking over from the staff table, confirming Harry's fears, much to his disgust. Dumbledore was still surrounded by most of the staff.

Harry and Peter made their way to the staff table and waited for the headmaster to continue to speak.

Peter had a troubled look on his face. Dumbledore was cooking something up, and that worried Peter greatly, especially as it concerned him, and that, in Peter's experience, was never good.

"Harry!" began Dumbledore. "The staff and I have had a little discussion about what to do with you. "The fact that the hat didn't Sort you leaves us with a rather… unique problem," Dumbledore continued. He had a huge twinkle in his eyes, and he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

"Harry, this has never happened before, as the hat has never before failed to Sort a student," Dumbledore said.

"Now, normally a newly Sorted student would simply follow their house prefect up to their dorms, and that would be that.  
"You, however, unfortunately do not have a dorm."  
Dumbledore waited for a second to let the information sink in.

Harry was now becoming quite excited. _What did Dumbledore have up his sleeve this time?_ he wondered.

"After considerable debate, we, that is the staff and I, have decided to give you your own dorm, separate from the rest of the school…"

"Are you serious," cried Peter. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Harry silently agreed. He did not like the idea of spending the whole year alone.

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm frightfully serious in this matter, Peter, and no I'm not Sirius," Dumbledore continued, his eyes twinkling merrily.  
Harry groaned at the joke, Peter wasn't Sirius… _what a waste of a joke._

"Harry here does not have a house, as such he can't stay in Gryffindor Tower… or any other common room for that matter."

Harry groaned again; how he was supposed to get close to his targets now, short of murdering them in class, he didn't know.

"Furthermore, we feel it would be better if Harry were separated from the rest of the school, due to… his rather personal magical problems, and that's where you come in."

Hearing this Harry became alert.

"Please note that this is your choice, if you don't want to do this, no one will force you…

I couldn't help noticing how friendly you, James, Remus and Sirius have become with Harry since he first arrived."

_What!_ thought Harry.

"I'll come to the point… Seeing how James is Head Boy, Sirius is the greatest troublemaker around and Remus is as you know otherwise disposed, I would like you to be Harry's… room mate for the year… show him around the school, answer any of his questions, help him make some friends… keep him out of trouble, you know the drill," Dumbledore said. _And hopefully keep you out of trouble at the same time, _he thought

_No… no… please don't… please… not him,_ Harry begged mentally.

Behind him, Minerva was looking at Dumbledore as if he had a screw for a head. This was Peter Pettigrew, a member of the Marauders, one of the largest groups of pranksters and troublemakers Hogwarts had ever seen, since the Montgomery brothers, that is… putting Harry with him was asking for trouble

True, Harry was an unknown entity… but her feeling told her that this was like a disaster in the making.

_Sometimes I wonder if Dumbledore is too old for his job… no, if I had to guess, he enjoys doing things like this,_ she corrected herself as she continued to listen.

Peter did not look too happy and Harry could not really blame him.  
Here he was being asked to spend the year, his final year, with a fairly unknown student, away from his other friends, asked to keep an eye on an exceedingly more powerful and potentially volatile student… Not usually a good idea… not a good idea at all.

On the other hand, Harry was like a different version of his friend James. He was hopeful that he would get along just fine with Harry…and visa versa... right?

Little did Peter know how much Harry hated him. Little did he know that Harry was sent to…'kill' him.

Harry, though unhappy, couldn't help but smile as he sensed Peter's predicament.

_This might actually be fun_, he thought to himself.  
_Should I let Pry tickle his toes tonight_? he wondered.  
Nevertheless, he decided to haggle.

"Sir! Excuse me… but wouldn't it be better if Peter were allowed to stay with his other friends… or better still, if they all would be allowed to come and go whenever they felt like it?  
"I really don't want to keep Peter from his friends, that just wouldn't be fair.  
"In fact, wouldn't it be in all of our interests, the more people I have around me, the better a chance I have to make more friends." _And the better chance I have to reach and thus kill 'em, _Harry thought as he tried to explain. Besides, Harry really did prefer James or Sirius over Peter.

Dumbledore considered Harry for a moment. Behind him, Minerva was looking at him, her eyebrows raised…_ Don't you dare! _she wanted to say, but didn't.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was considering…_ On one hand, Harry is right, he should have the best chance to make friends and it isn't right to keep Peter from his other friends… but… with all of the school's troublemakers together… _he asked himself…

_If only I knew what type of a student Harry is, but that damn Occlumency shield makes it impossible for me to effectively judge him. _

_If Harry would be able to control them, it would be worth it… on the other hand, if Harry turns out to be like them, I'm practically asking for trouble… major trouble._

_I do not really have a choice though, do I, _he reminded himself.

_I have to put him somewhere._

_At the very least I can isolate the troublemakers from the rest of the student body, _Dumbledore thought.

Finally, Dumbledore relented, and Minerva gave up, waving her right hand in disgust. Her day had just been officially ruined.  
_Well at least Gryffindor Tower will be a lot quieter now, _she thought as she left the Hall… _always look on the bright side of life, _she reminded herself.

"All right," said Dumbledore. "If Peter's friends are willing to change dorms, I'll allow it…"

Happy with the sudden turn of events, Peter agreed. It was better than he ever could have hoped for. "Wait until I tell the others," he said as he left the Hall in a hurry, leaving Harry behind.

After being given directions, information about the dorm and the dorm password from an annoyed Dumbledore (the whole reason he put Peter with Harry was so that Peter could show Harry the way, tell him the passwords and be there for him), Harry followed, leaving a very worried Dumbledore behind.

_What have I just done, _he asked himself as he rejoined his remaining staff at the staff table. _I hope I don't regret this, _he thought as he sat back down in his chair.

A moment later, he was engulfed in a nice conversation with Professor Spout, his worries, at least for now, forgotten.


	8. Dragonheart

**Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 8 **

**Dragonheart**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the wonderful world of Harry Potter. I'm just ordering the characters around a bit. 

**Note:** Explanations on the Animagus and Metamorphmagus, except those on shape-shifting were taken from Wikipedia.

**Chapter Beta'd by:** RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

Harry was walking along the corridor, heading towards his new common room, or rather to be precise, his own personal castle flat, when he heard the sound of multiple footsteps coming down the hall towards his general location. 

James, Sirius, Remus, and of course his new guide, Peter, came into view.  
They all seemed very excited.

"Hey Harry, is it true that we can join you in your own dorm?" asked James when he reached Harry's side.

"Peter said so, but he has been known to get facts wrong from time to time," came the hopeful voice of Sirius.

"Well, that is what Dumbledore told me," Harry replied with a grin. "Though I'm surprised to see you here, James," Harry added.

"Why's that," James asked with a frown.

"Oh don't get me wrong, James, I'm very happy to see you and I would be overjoyed if you joined me, but, seriously, I expected you to be in your own … private suite… with a cute and beautiful red headed gal named Lily," Harry said meaningfully, with a wink, noticing James's confusion.

James became beet red at hearing Harry's words.

"What… ?… How did you?…Wait!... Harry… it's not what you think," James began to say, stuttering, trying to defend himself, way too embarrassed to make a decent attempt at questioning how Harry knew about his relationship with his sweet little Lily flower.

"What?... Don't you like her?" asked Harry smugly, while raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes … of course I do," said James humbly.

"Well, then I could hardly take you away from the girl you so obviously love, and which you're so obviously made for, could I?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows cutely in reply.

James just smiled stupidly, lost for words, with a sort of pleased giddy look on his face. It was no use denying his feelings when they were so obvious.

"So, Harry, where is this dorm of yours?" asked Remus, who decided on that moment to come to James's rescue, even though he was also amused by what he heard.

"Yes please tell, I sort of left before they could tell me," Peter announced.

"Yes… I noticed…and let me be the first to tell you that Dumbledore wasn't very impressed about that," Harry said in a how-could-you kind of voice, which made Peter look back sheepishly in return.  
"Oh," was all he managed to say in reply.

Nobody else seemed to question or care how Harry, the new boy, already knew about James's relationship with Lily.

"Well, do you know the statue of the young female goblin with the two older goblins who seem to be looking at her and a coin at the same time, you know, as if trying to decide on which one to take … on the 7th floor?" asked Harry meaningfully.

"You mean the statue near to the enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy's foolish attempt to train trolls for the ballet?" asked Peter.

"Yes, that's right, around there," said Harry, then he froze.

"Everything alright, Harry?" James asked, seeing Harry's sudden change.

Harry quickly recovered. "Yes, yes, everything's fine. I just remembered something significant which I heard… nothing special," Harry responded quickly. He could not believe his luck.

* * *

**_A short time later # 7th floor_**

Harry and his friends arrived on the seventh floor and were standing beside the statue of the female goblin with her confused escorts. For a fleeting second Harry glanced over at the tapestry depicting Barnabas before looking away again. Now was not the time.

"So what's the password?" asked Sirius.

"Dragonheart!" said Harry loudly, and almost immediately, in recognition, a hole appeared in the wall, just beside the statue, revealing a small room with a round brown oak table, two couches and numerous chairs which seemed to circle around a fireplace and around the table. The room appeared to be just large enough to host five people, as if the dorm knew how many occupants it would have.

Peering at the table, Harry could distinctly see that two of the five places at the table had been marked. One was marked with the name Peter Pettigrew, the other…

Frowning slightly, Harry moved closer to take a better look and nearly fainted with fright, his eyes growing wide, as he saw the name 'Harry Potter' engrained into the top of the wood with a fat silver 'Pd' beside it.

Cursing to himself in his mind, not caring what the 'Pd' could mean and not knowing what else to do, he quickly sat on the table to cover up the offending label. Grinning stupidly, he did his best to inconspicuously look around the room, acting as if everything was still all right, while at the same time the other inhabitants of the room were moving around him.

In truth, however, he was panicking slightly, frantically begging the room to change the name.

For the next few minutes Harry tried a few spells when he thought nobody was looking. Finally he even went as far as to beg the beings above to help him.

While Harry was trying his best to find a way to solve his dilemma, James, who was investigating the other end of the room, suddenly saw a stairway leading up from the right side. Taking a closer look, he noticed a sign appear: 'Dormitories'. The stairway seemed to lead to two different doors, one for the boys, the other for the girls. _All in all, a cute and cosy little dormitory,_ he thought before he looked back at Harry

"What is this place?" James asked, before he could realize that something was off with his new friend.

Harry, doing his best stay calm (and while still sitting on the table), smiled: "This, lads, is the 'Dragon hold'. An old, usually empty, common room which was once used by a group of guards which called themselves 'the Dragons'… A group of elite magical mercenaries hired by the founders and former heads to guard Hogwarts in times of war and political unrest.

"According to what Dumbledore told me, during one of the goblin wars, Hogwarts had its own private army, and these were the living quarters for the guard's officers," Harry explained.

"And there was me thinking that after seven all so wonderful years here in this school I couldn't be surprised anymore," said Sirius to himself, shaking his head.

Impressed, everybody bar one went up the stairs to take a closer look at the sleeping quarters.  
Harry, however, stayed behind in the common room and turned back to the label, only to find that it had changed from Potter to Granger. Releasing a huge sigh which he realised he had been holding in, he wiped sweat of his forehead then he let himself fall wearily into one of the two couches in the room, only to be surprised when they seemed to change into his personal specifications and desires, much to his delight and pleasure.

Allowing himself to look around the room again, Harry noticed a small notice board on a wall nearby and nearly screamed when he saw a list of names... occupants of the dorm… written on it, including his real name. Flicking out his wand in a lightning motion he blew the notice board apart with such hate that he turned it into a shower of fine dust, which slowly settled onto the ground below. Now breathing deeply and not finding anything else, he quickly let himself fall back into the couch only to find himself staring incredulously, with his mouth wide open, into his own face… or rather that of a grinning active, wildly waving portrait of himself, named Lord Harriot James Potter-Gryffindor-Ambrosius-Black. Son of James and Lily (nee Evans) Potter. The Boy Who Lived, savior of the Wizarding world and renowned defeater of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.'

Quick as lightening, Harry had his wand out and was about to blow it up too but stalled. Changing his mind, a small smile slowly appeared across his face. Waving his wand slightly across the portrait, which he had to admit was very well done, he shrunk it down, doing his best to ignore the few embarrassing squeals which came from the portrait as he did so, and put it into his pocket. Slowly, with a heavy sigh, he let himself fall back into the couch.

A short while later, James and Sirius remerged from their own little tour of the dormitories above.

"Hey, Harry," he said, looking at Harry who was sitting in the couch. "Guess what, we all have magical double beds which seem to know how you sleep and how you want them," said James, who looked ecstatic, not realising that Harry looked extremely flushed and disheveled in his face and that he had been breathing heavily just a few minutes before.

"This even puts the Head dorm to shame… maybe, just maybe, I can convince Lily to come up here too," he said, more to himself than to the other occupants of the room.

"Good luck, mate," said Sirius with a laugh. "You're going to need it," he added, a statement which received a sour glare from James, who was forced to remember his many tries to ask her out, all of which had failed miserably.

_Yes, good luck…hope you do make it,_ Harry thought a little anxiously. He didn't want anything to ruin his parents' chances for their relationship which was already shaky at best. His life depended upon it.  
_If the worst happens I will just have to Memory Charm them_, he thought as he settled back into his couch a small grin on his face.

For a second he wondered if it wasn't his karma to do so in the first place... that maybe they only became close because of him... that maybe he was only born because he made them fall in love... but if that were the case how would he have existed in the first place... and how... _Arggg_, he mentally screamed. It was all so confusing... thinking about that only made his head hurt.

"Oh, by the way… Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me why it says Harry Potter on the notice board upstairs and not James?" James asked him with a confused look.

Hearing this, Harry groaned, clenched his teeth fiercely, cursed out loud in anger and jumped out of the couch, wand in hand…

Above in the heavens, James and Sirius laughed out in delight, giving each other an unearthly hug and victory handshake to another prank well done.

A red-eyed scream of fury, one Exploding Hex for the notice board, a few screams of terror, a mad dash and fight for the exit, which included one Instant Darkness Charm, seven Shield Charms, three Levitation Charms, ten Stunners, one plea for mercy (from Peter), one Silencing Charm, one short Cruciatus Curse, a bite from Pry, one quick reluctant antidote and Pain-Relieving Charm (all five for Peter), four Memory Charms and four Enervate Charms later (for everybody), a now calm Harry and the rest of his Memory Charmed dorm had all left the Dragon Hold to collect their luggage.

They all felt like moving in immediately. James, on the other hand, went back to his own dorm in a rather desperate attempt to persuade Lily to join them, or rather him.

It was bound to fail, as the next any of them saw of him was the next day at breakfast.

* * *

**_Early in the Morning #The Dragon Hold_**

Harry got up early the next morning so that he could have a shower before the rest even had a chance to wake up.

The fact that there were only four showers for the five of them was the dorm's only flaw. Two for the boys and two for the girls.

Fortunately, unlike in Gryffindor Tower, the girls' dorms did let the boys enter, so there were in fact four for the five of them, that is if Lily didn't decide to join them, in which case it would once again be back down to two, though she might allow the boys to use the spare shower. That is, if she did not bring along a few female companions. Harry wondered if Dumbledore knew about this slight difference in the dorms, not that he was going to say anything. James, and probably the rest of the boys too, would probably kill him if he did.

After his shower, Harry noticed with a surprise that his uniform now had different colours. After checking that these really were his real school clothes (his name tag, etc was on it) and that somebody hadn't played a prank on him (which was always likely considering that he lived with the notorious marauders, pranksters supreme) he got dressed and left the dorm to go to the Hall for breakfast. His new house colours had now not the usual black uniform with red and gold for Gryffindor, but instead the usual black with a silver and gold mixture complimenting a royal purple. His tie was mostly purple with silver and golden stripes while his robes were the usual school black with a royal purple with a few added traces of gold and silver.

Choosing to sit at the Gryffindor table, he was quickly joined by James.

"So… James… were you able to convince Lily?" Harry asked pleasantly, noticing that James's robes had not changed yet.

"Yes… no… maybe… I mean… I don't know… I asked her and at first she said that I could stick ... well... let's just say in the end she settled for that she would think about it," James answered, becoming slightly red at the last night's memory, while Harry cringed slightly at the hidden meaning. "Though I have a bad feeling that she was only considering it because of the dorm's enhancements, and maybe on a lesser extent to help and be kind to you," James added dubiously. He seemed a bit down. "By the way… is that a real school uniform?"

"Ah, so there is still a chance," Harry replied, his worries increasing while taking a letter from Snowflake, who had just arrived with the other owls for the morning post. "And yes… I think the robes are real. Thorny wasn't impressed though, tried to take away fifty points for indecent exposure. Couldn't do it though… no house. If she did, she would have had to recognise us as a new house… good, eh," Harry answered, while opening the letter.

"Wow, cool owl, Harry," said James, who was looking at Harry's owl with awe.  
"What kind of an owl is that?" he asked. "I've never seen this type before."

Harry, who was busy with the letter Snowflake had sent him, answered absentmindedly…"She's a snowy mages eagle owl breed."

"My, they are supposed to be extremely rare and one of the most powerful owl breeds in existence… pure royalty," James exclaimed with shining eyes. "Where did you get her, Harry?" he asked. "She must have cost you a fortune."

Harry, however, did not hear him. His eyes had gone wide with shock.  
"I don't believe it," he mumbled to himself.

"What don't you believe," asked Sirius, snatching the letter from Harry's frozen hands, having just joined them at the table, and he started to read it. Sirius wore the new purple, gold and silver striped robes, just like Harry, and he seemed to be very pleased with them.

**_Dear Mr. Granger,_**

**_It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected for the post of Hogwarts' first ever dormitory monitor for the Dragon dorm, effective immediately.  
It is my hope that you will be able to exercise some control over your dorm mates in the up coming months.  
Please note, unlike other prefects you only have control over your direct dorm mates.  
This power does not carry forward on to other students outside of the dorm.  
As such, you are not required to participate in any prefect duties other than those directly linked to your dorm. (Unless in dire circumstances) You may, however, use the Prefect bathroom, situated on the 5th floor. The current password is 'Wolfsbane.' _**

**_Dorm Prefect (Dorm Monitor) Duties include:_**

**_(1) Keeping an eye on your fellow dorm mates and disciplining them if necessary. (A full list of acceptable punishments can be found in Filch's office.) If unsure please feel free to ask a member of staff._**

**_(2) Reporting any breakages of rules to a staff member. Alternately, you may issue sanctions personally. Severe breakages of rules MUST be reported immediately._**

**_(3) Supervising and issuing jobs in the day-to-day running of the dormitory (if applicable)_**

**_(4) Enforcing the day-to-day running of Hogwarts where possible and keeping pranks and other identical trouble to a minimum._**

**_(5) Please note: while in (and only in) the dorm other prefects have a lower standing to the Dorm Monitor (Does not apply to Head Boy and Girl) _**

**_(6) Finally, please note: failure to comply and reinforce the rules above (within reason) may result in a detention and/or immediate loss of your badge. _**

**_Congratulations.  
With kind regards,  
Albus Dumbledore  
(Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) _**

Sirius looked up from the letter with an amused smile on his face.  
"Hey congrats, Harry, a new position made especially for you. First day at Hogwarts and already a prefect, you really know how to get promotions fast, don't you," he said sarcastically.

Harry looked at him with an annoyed, yet somewhat pleased look.

_This might help me against Peter,_ he thought as he took out his badge. It looked similar to the usual Prefect's badge with only a small difference. Instead of just a 'P', it now had a smaller 'D' beside it too. Harry guessed the 'D' stood for dorm but he was not sure about it. For all he knew it could mean 'Dragon' instead. Not caring if he was worthy for it or not, he pinned it to his robes.

_My dear Albus, true, I may have to enforce your rules to keep my new rank but_ _in your manipulations, you have no idea about the mistake you just made, _he thought to himself smugly as he listened to his dorm mates' cheeky comments and well wishes. He even managed to give Sirius a death glare when he offered to polish his shoes every morning in exchange for leniency.

It was clear that he was just making fun of him.

James, however, just laughed; he knew he would be in control, or at least at equal standings no matter what happened, being the Head Boy and as such, he did not really care. As far as he was concerned, being above prefects, he was at the top of the control chain anyway.

A short while later, Minerva came along and handed everybody their timetables.

Harry was pleased to note that his seemed to be the same as the Gryffindors' and looking over to the staff table he mouthed a silent thank you to his former head of house, who gave him a slight nod and a smile in return.

She, like Albus, was optimistic to the extreme in that she had very high, yet futile hopes that Harry might be able to 'sort out' the rest of the Marauders and to maybe keep them under control for the year and thus away from their usual pranks.

Finishing his breakfast, Harry made his way up to his dormitory to collect his books, though he didn't think he would need them, having already memorised the whole contents by heart. Still, he did not want to appear lazy or like the kind of person who forgets their books before a class. He also didn't want to appear like a know-it-all, though that would probably happen anyway, if he wanted it to or not. His abilities and knowledge were just too great as it were.

* * *

Harry arrived at his first class, Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, five minutes early. He quickly made his way down to the back of the classroom. 

A few Hufflepuffs were already in the room and they quickly moved away from Harry as he took a seat nearby. Apparently, they were still too afraid to sit near the newest, strangest addition to Hogwarts, or at least his potentially volatile side.

Harry didn't really care.

James and the rest of the now purple gang joined him a little later and together they made fun of him about his new position while they waited for Minerva to arrive.

Harry took it with humour, though secretly he made plans to give them extra dorm duties for the evening.

As one of his dorm monitor duties, he was responsible for the every day running of the dorm. While the house-elves did do a lot of the cleaning, there still were still a few tasks that they did not do. In fact, Dumbledore had forbidden the house-elves from doing everything, so that the students would not become overly complacent and decadent.

It would be Harry's duty to hand out these cleaning rotas.

Professor McGonagall did arrive, but not like everybody would have expected.

Entering the room in her cat form, she slowly made her way up to where Harry was sitting, where she jumped onto a bench nearby.

Harry of course knew about her Animagus form and was not surprised in the least to see a cute little tabby cat sitting beside him.

Smiling at the cat, he reached out and started to scratch her behind the ear. The cat seemed to enjoy the new attention and started to purr contentedly. A few students nearby who had also noticed the cat enter the room started to snicker amongst themselves but otherwise kept quiet. Then, when Harry purposefully placed the cat on his lap, they couldn't help themselves and started to laugh outright. For a second Harry thought about checking her out but quickly decided not to, for fear of his life. The students, like Harry, knew about their professor's Animagus form. What they did not know, however, was that Harry also knew, so when Harry looked at the cat cutely and greeted her by saying, "Good morning, Professor," they all gaped in surprise.

The cat just blinked and looked up at Harry for a second and then jumped off his lap quickly before changing back into her normal self.

"If I may ask how you knew that it was I?" she asked Harry, a little annoyed (and also a little embarrassed) that her trick had not worked, as usual.

Harry just looked at her and smiled.

"Please Professor, anybody with a small bit of common sense could have known that it was you… you know… those beautiful blue eyes, that all so elegant fluffy tail, those silky… "

"Thank you! Mr. Granger…" Minerva said briskly, cutting him off, becoming even redder in her embarrassment. She was not interested in his extended answer. Beside Harry, his friends started to snigger and laugh again, an act which earned them a wild reproachful look from their professor.

"Five points to Gryffindor for noticing that it was really me, though your explanation was less than satisfactory. Though I must admit, while inadequate, I liked what you said," she added with a faint smile, already recovering from her embarrassing moment. Once again the class began to burst out laughing.

"Ok that's enough!" she said sharply... "Now, since we are already on the topic of the Animagus, a quick revision question… can anybody tell me what they are?" she asked the class in general.

Harry quickly put up his hand, as did quite a few others.

"Mr. Preston, if you would please," she said to a Hufflepuff boy who had raised his hand.

"An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can turn into a particular animal at will. This ability is not innate so it must be acquired by magical means. All Animagi must register at a central authority; it is illegal to obtain this ability without registering."

"Well done, take five points for Hufflepuff," said McGonagall. "That is exactly what it is.

"Now, for another five points, who can tell me the difference between a werewolf and an Animagus?" she asked.

Again, quite a few students put up their hands. Harry noticed with slight amusement that Remus was one of them. Being a werewolf himself, he would of course know the answer.

"Mr. Granger," she said, looking straight at Harry.

"Animagi are explicitly differentiated from werewolves, in that Animagi have full control over their transformations and retain their minds, where as werewolves' transformations are involuntary and include severe changes in personality. It is debatable whether transformed werewolves possess human intellect. The difference between an Animagus and a werewolf is that an Animagus elects to turn into an animal but a werewolf has no choice. After the person has transformed into a werewolf he no longer remembers who he is; he would kill his best friend if he got anywhere near him. A werewolf only responds to the call of his own kind," said Harry, rattling off his answer straight from his mind, step by step, as it had been written in the textbook.

McGonagall looked at him and raised her eyebrows. It was clear that she was impressed.

Harry suddenly realised that his answer was much too good for a normal student and silently berated himself. After all he didn't really want to be a know-it-all... did he?

"Tell me, Mr. Granger, what is the difference between a Metamorphmagus and an Animagus?" she asked.

Annoyed with himself, but seeing that the damage had already been done, Harry decided to go all out. If asked, he could always put the blame of his advanced knowledge to his Ministry test subject alias.

"Certainly, Professor, a Metamorphmagus is a witch or wizard born with the innate ability to change some or all of their appearance at will. The talent cannot be acquired; a witch or wizard who has it must be born with it.  
"Metamorphmagi differ from Animagi in several ways:  
"They have more control over partial transformations, being able to change any portion of their appearance independently, and to the extent desired. Animagi are limited to full transformation, appearing either fully human or fully transformed.  
"They can take on all forms, whereas Animagi are restricted to animal forms.  
"They can take any human form they desire.  
"Metamorphmagi can change their sex, race or age with ease, though it's not known if they can also reproduce the functions of the other sex. Animagi are limited to a single animal, and, indeed, cannot even choose what species they become, taking the form of whatever animal fits their personality best."

The whole class, including McGonagall, though to a slightly lesser extent, stared at Harry, with big swollen eyes. It was clear that they were in awe. From across the room you could hear a quill drop. It was so quiet.

"Er… right… quite impressive, Mr. Granger," McGonagall said. She had sweat on her forehead. She was sure that even she would not have been able to answer the question so well and eloquently like he had just done.

"One question for you, Professor," said Harry.

McGonagall just nodded stupidly.

"What can you tell me about shape-shifting," asked Harry smugly before he could stop himself; he really was enjoying himself.

The class was just staring at him open-mouthed. He had just surprised them again.

"About what?" asked McGonagall, surprised.

"Shape-shifting," Harry said again as if it were the must obvious thing in the world.

"Er… never heard of it!" McGonagall admitted. "I mean, I have heard of the principle of shape-shifting but no such ability exists, so I can't tell you anything about it," she answered.

Harry raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Then let me enlighten you… Shape-shifting is, strictly speaking, the ability to change into any object or living creation, whether it is animated or unanimated, solid or liquid… in short, anything.  
"In other words, a witch or wizard able to shape-shift could change into any animal type or object known to the changeling. Unfortunately, shape-shifting and Animagi are completely incompatible as the two cancel each other out. That is why you can never have a person who is both, an Animagi and a shape-shifter, not that it would make much of a difference to the shape-shifter as he or she would generally speaking have the combined powers of both an Animagus and a Metamorphmagus. That is, of course, ignoring the fact that a shape-shifter can change into anything it wishes anyway, though it must be noted that a shape-shifter can not use the abilities of an Animagi form, for example a phoenix's flaming power. Further more, as a shape-shifter, there is a slight possibility to change into the chosen object or creature permanently if the ability is over used," Harry answered and received another gasp from the class.

Minerva was speechless. Never before had a student lectured her in her class. This was unheard of.  
Severely shaken, she sat down in front of her table.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Granger for your… interesting lecture… er… take 100 points… (the class gasped before she could continue, even Harry was taken aback by her generosity)… for… oh…er…." She paused.

"Well, I would give you the points, but you don't really belong to a house. Tell you what, I'll keep the points until you are officially Sorted, or until the unlikely event that we officially accept the house of the Dragon into the points system," she said after a minute, meaning it to be a joke, a comment which earned quite a laugh from the class. Harry, though, and a few of the other Dragon members, looked thoughtful at the idea.

Pausing for another minute to give herself time to recuperate from the shock, she looked back at the class.

"I think I'll leave it at that for today. In the next few weeks we will be practicing the transformation into Animagi along with the rest of the year's curriculum.  
"It is my hope that by the end of the year at least one of you will be able to achieve a full transformation.  
"Be warned though, not everybody can become an Animagus, but for those of you who can, I expect full commitment. For any of you who do not wish to become Animagus or can't, you will be given a project on the differences of magical animals and their Animagi counterparts. At least then you will have a good chance to identify one when you see them in the open.  
"For homework I want a five foot, ten inches essay about the differences between Animagi, werewolves, and Metamorphmagi, deliverable by Friday.  
"Mr. Granger, please stay behind after class.  
"Class dismissed."

With that, everybody but Harry left the classroom in silent whispers.  
McGonagall waited until everybody was gone before she turned to face Harry.

"I must admit, Mr. Granger, it's not everyday that a student outsmarts me. In fact, I must admit, it's rare that I even give much praise," she added thoughtfully.

"I always aim to please," Harry answered sweetly.

"Indeed… tell me, Harry, just how good are you… I realise that you are from an experimental institute but... just how much do you know? And for goodness' sake, where did you read the material about shape-shifting," she asked, now greatly interested.

Harry considered his answer for a few seconds then answered:

"To be truthful, I don't really know, Professor. I probably could take the N.E.W.T.s now and pass them.

"My theoretical knowledge in most subjects is, practically speaking, 100 percent perfect and my magical powers are far greater than that of a normal student. I don't wish to brag, but that's just the way it is.

"As for where I learned about shape-shifting, the fact is, they really do…or at least did exist, though they were extremely rare and usually very secretive, in fact if I'm not mistaken the last publically known shape-shifter lived a good 1200 or so years ago. Nevertheless, my professor in America thought it would be important to know about them. What I told you was practically what he told us," Harry lied. Harry of course knew that at that moment, he was the only living example of a shape-shifter.

"I see," said McGonagall, although she really didn't see. She was not sure what to do or say. The fact that one of her students had more power and ability than most of the staff, if not all, frightened her.

"You do realize that I will have to report this to the headmaster?" she asked.

Harry nodded; he had expected as much. "That's ok, Professor, I thought you might have to," he answered.

"Very well, Harry, I think that's all, I won't keep you any longer. By the way, you don't have to do the homework assignment, it's clear that you know everything anyway."

"Thanks Professor."

McGonagall nodded in response and a minute later, Harry had left the classroom.

_I really have to bring this up in the next staff meeting_, thought McGonagall as she walked to the door to allow in the next class, still in a daze from the lecture that she had received just a few minutes ago.

* * *

**_A few hours later #Great Hall of Hogwarts_**

A few hours later, Harry was in the Great Hall, trying to enjoy his lunch, but failing.

His friends who were around him were all giving him uneasy glances, as if trying to decide whether it was safe to come nearer to him. A fact, which, though to a certain extent reasonable, greatly saddened him.

Harry's last class, Defence Against the Dark Arts, had been 'a blast', to take the term literally. The result of which was that a heavily injured professor was now in the hospital wing, under the tender care of an over-protective school nurse. An incident which had since then become the number one topic in the school.

Harry, who had entered Defence Against the Dark Arts, still in a trance from his earlier class, Potions, with 'Potions Assistant Professor Slytherin supporter Thornton', and armed with a full arsenal of Light, Grey, Semi-grey, Semi-Dark, Dark, and Unforgivable spells was sure to have made an impact in any case, however, nobody had been prepared for directly what type of impact.

**:_Flash back:_**

Harry had entered the Defence classroom in a bit of a rage.

That bitch, Thornton, had without a good reason, seeing that she couldn't take away house points, given him a week's worth of detentions, all because he had tried to help another student. That was after calling him a cheat and a liar.

_A cheat…A CHEAT! I'm not a bloody cheat, a liar and a cheeky know-it-all maybe, but NOT a cheat,_ he thought angrily, frantically keeping his magic under control as he was walking down the corridor to his next class, several items shaking whenever he passed them, wishing to Hell that he could add her to his hit list of death.

It had taken nearly all of his self-control to keep himself from retaliating in Thornton's class. In fact, he had nearly blown her to the moon.

_Once I get back up there, I'll make sure Satan puts her where she belongs,_ he thought angrily as he entered the Defence classroom, meaning Hell. He nearly felt like willingly taking Satan's place, just to make sure that Thornton, Snape, and the rest of their kind got what he felt they richly deserved.

He was in such a rage that he never noticed a hex flying towards him and before he knew it, he found himself on the floor with Professor Blake looking down at him mockingly from above.

"Hmmm, looks like our newest prodigy needs some awareness training," Professor Blake said aloud, which made the class laugh with amusement. Especially most of the Slytherins, who were still euphoric from the outcome of the previous class.

Harry, however, who was screaming inwardly, did not find it amusing at all.  
With a temper now worse than a boiling furnace, he took a seat at the back of the class, as far away from everybody as he could get.  
He was in no mood for company, not at that moment, and his usual friends seemed to sense it, as they were trying to stay as far away from him as possible.

Had Professor Blake noticed the state Harry had been in, he could have avoided a disaster. As it was he did not, so when he asked a greatly enraged Harry to the top of the class for a demonstration, it was quite a foolish thing to do.

"Mr. Granger, if you would please be so kind as to join me up here for a little demonstration," he had said.

To which Harry had answered, "Could you please take someone else… I don't really feel …well… quite frankly I don't really feel in the mood for this at all at the moment."

"Oh come on, Harry, surely a student from America's finest has what it takes for a little demonstration," said Blake, who everybody called Colonel Blake, due to his former time in her Majesty's Muggle army.

"No, really Professor, I really think I shouldn't," Harry answered, half pleadingly.

"Ah nit-spit, you can do it, Harry, now come on, up you come."

"No, really…"

"Come up here," Blake said, a little more forcefully this time.

"No!" Harry had said, rather loudly while standing up.

Remus, sensing danger, had tried to reason with the professor at that moment.  
"Please Professor, maybe it would be better if…"

"No, I chose Harry and I want him up here, NOW!" Blake said, getting a little louder himself at this moment.

"FINE," Harry practically screamed, walking up to the front of the room, his temper nearly erupting like an active volcano. His body language showed that he was very unhappy at that moment.

"Twenty points from…" Blake screamed…then in a somewhat quieter voice, "hmm….right…anyway…just get up there… " Blake said, now very angry.

Remus, Sirius, and James all watched worriedly as Harry, who was just managing to control himself, barely, made his way up to the front of the room.

They could all sense that Blake had just made a terrible mistake, yet they were powerless to divert the consequences of his foolishness.

Even some of the Slytherins who had not forgotten the incident on the train were becoming increasingly nervous, but not all of them.

Happy that Harry was finally where he wanted him, Blake then turned back to the class and said, "I will now demonstrate the Pyroxia Hex."

Harry frowned angrily.

"The Pyroxia Hex is an advanced form of the common 'stupefy' Stunning Hex. It will, temporarily, leave Harry unable to perform simple movements for the duration of the spell and it will also inhibit him from doing any magic at the same time.

"Watch and learn."

"_Pyrox_," Blake called out, pointing his wand at Harry, and for the next second, with a general gasp from the general audience, and a small laugh from a few Slytherins (but not all as some, namely the ones from the train, tried to move away from the front of the room), Harry froze and collapsed painfully to the ground. His magic reduced to half of what it usually was. This in Harry's term was quite a lot, having much more energy than that a normal wizard or witch. The sudden drain of magic from his body left him very uncomfortable and very irritated. A normal wizard or witch would not have had much magic left at all. In fact, just enough to stay out of a magical coma.

Sirius and James felt like running up to Harry to help him but they stopped when Blake gave them a warning glare.

"Observe how the individual is now unable to move a single muscle and is now ripe for the picking…"

After a minute and several more explanations, Blake said the countercurse and removed the spell from Harry, who was now only in a worse mood. Being Stunned was never a nice experience. Being Stunned when you did not want to be made it that much worse.

"Now your turn," said Blake to Harry. "Try to hex me…if you can..."

Now angrier than ever, just holding on by a thin thread of hatred, Harry took his wand into his hand and pointed it at Blake.

"Fine, but don't blame me if you're hurt," Harry said in an extremely cold voice, which made most of the class shiver, the others gasp, but not Blake. In his stupidity he continued, ignoring it completely:

"Hah, good luck, I'll give you ten points if you can…Oh sorry I forgot, you don't have a house," he joked.

Harry, however, failed to see the humour. His magic now fully restored, taking it as a further insult, his eyes flicked from green to red to night black for a split second. Seeing this, some of the Slytherins from the train cried out in alarm, distracting the professor for a split second as Harry, finally breaking, immediately screamed out, "_PYROX_!" in a clear and powerful voice, putting quite a lot of energy into the spell. Instantaneously a huge blinding red beam flew towards Blake, illuminating the entire room in the process and forcing most of the class to shield their eyes from it.

Blake had not expected Harry to successfully conjure the hex on his first try and so only had a split second to react to throw up a quick shield.

However, whether it was that his shield was too weak, or that Harry's hex was just too strong, it didn't really matter as the hex flew straight though Blake's shield, disintegrating it. The beam hit Blake with such force that, with a strangling cry, he was thrown half way across the room right into the wall, where with a loud sickening crack and a high-pitched cry of pain, Blake collapsed to the ground.

Harry could only watch with horror as a few seconds later, numerous students rushed to their downed professor.

"Is he ok?" asked the first.

"Is anything broken?" asked the next.

"Can he continue the class?" asked another.

"Is he…dead?" asked a shocked Harry, his anger gone… _Well, I did warn him_… he thought.

"Out of the way!" said Lily fiercely as she ran to Blake's side to check him out.

A few seconds later…

"He's fine, well, sort of, he's in a coma. He seems to have a very heavy concussion and a few broken ribs. Nothing that Poppy can't fix," she proclaimed, biting her lower lip showing off quite a bit of worry.

Taking control of the situation, she turned to a nearby student. "Well don't just stand there, go get her," she called out.

"Who…oh yes…of course," said the shocked student and off she ran.

**_:End of Flashback:_**

That had happened around an hour ago, and Lily, James, Sirius, and even Minerva had all told him that it had not really been his fault but Blake's. That Professor Blake should have seen it coming. That he should have been more careful and overall, that he should not have forced an unstable angry student, like Harry, an advanced unpredictable student in fact, to act as the class 'Guinea Pig,' especially not against his will.

Despite the many reassurances, Harry could not help but wonder if he really was too dangerous to be a student.

He just couldn't help but worry if the same thing could accidentally happen in an argument with his friends… Sirius or James... or even Lily perhaps. What if he killed them?

For the rest of the day, Harry kept to himself and tried to stay out of his friends' way. It was only after he had had some time to come to terms with what had happened and only when Lily herself had given him one of her one-on-one talks (as Head Girl) was it that Harry started to liven up and enjoy himself again.

Besides, he had a mission to complete, and it simply would not do to lose himself, not now… not ever. Too many dead people were counting on him.

One good thing did come out of the night though.

Much to James's over-due joy (and Harry's relief), Lily had decided to change dorms, and with two of her friends she was now inhabiting the girls' side of the Dragon dorm. She had claimed that it would give her a better position to watch over Harry, who according to her really needed a few serious and mature companions. In her opinion, she was the right person for the job. An idea that Dumbledore wholeheartedly agreed with.

The only person who seemed unhappy about this was Minerva, who felt that the Gryffindor 7th year dormitories were becoming quite empty and therefore lonely. However, she understood the need for Harry to have the company, so she stayed quiet about it.

* * *

During the next few days Harry quickly made a name for himself in the whole school. 

One half of the school, particularly the Slytherins, was too afraid to look him in the eye, in case he would hex them.  
The other half, while friendly towards him, had different problems of their own to attend to than to worry about a new upstart who was shaking up the foundations of the school.

Of this other half, only the Dragon dorm members were noticeably friendly to Harry. The rest just chose to accept him as another worthy student, who had earned the right into Hogwarts and, though cautious, were quickly becoming his friends.

Over the first two days the Dragons had gained almost ten new members overnight, mostly 7th and 6th years, and the Dragon dorm was steadily growing as more and more students flocked from their former houses to enjoy the enhancements in the house of the growing Dragon.

The Dragon hold, sensing the increasing new influx of members, quickly saw fit to expand and to quadruple its size, allowing the newest members adequate room to move in. The common room, which was threatening to become fairly cramped at first, had gained nearly twenty new chairs and another table over night. The dorms followed suit and gained nearly an equal number of new beds over the same night. The rest of the changes happened the next day when the Dragons also gained a few new showers and toilets, much to everybody's delight. All in all there was a drastic increase in purple, gold and silver in the corridors.

On the second day, Minerva was officially anxious for her Gryffindors. Most of the seventh year boys had already left her. Worried that she would lose everybody soon, she hurried to Dumbledore for help and henceforth the influx of students to the Dragons was stopped.

In the end, the total number of new Dragons was forty-eight students. Twenty-eight from Gryffindor made up the bulk. Of those twenty-eight former Gryffindors, four were completely loyal to Harry, noticeably the Marauders and Lily, minus Peter, who was scared of him, or rather Harry's snake, who never seemed to leave him alone.

Peter had joined the group, but to Harry he was not official, nor was he ever going to trust him… ever. As far as Harry was concerned, Peter was a dead man, though he would never admit it and would always act normal in front of the rest, which unfortunately was usually always, since Peter was never alone. A fact which annoyed Harry greatly, since he really wanted to kill him… soon.

The rest of the Dragons were sixteen Ravenclaws and only four disloyal Hufflepuffs. No Slytherins joined the new unofficial house, finding the Dragons either too… 'Mudbloody' to join or Harry too scary, evil or dangerous to even approach.

For a while after that, everything was quite dandy at Hogwarts, as the school slowly turned back to normal.

This changed again though, and quickly, when Harry, who was backed up fiercely by James and the other Dragons, decided to have their own school Quidditch team.

Quidditch tryouts were around the corner and as yet the 'Dragons' had no team.

Harry and the rest of the Quidditch fanatics, with Harry as their overall commander, had drawn up a petition for permission to form a new Quidditch team.

When brought up at the first staff meeting it was met with some… unease… to say the least.

* * *

**_: Flash Back #Hogwarts Staff meeting:_**

"Right, that concludes the official issues of the first week's staff meeting," said Albus Dumbledore, sitting at his usual place at the head of the staff table.

"I'll now open the floor to any other outstanding issues which any of you might have," he said, leaning back in his seat happily, his work now done, or so he hoped.

Looking around the room, he noticed that a number of his teachers had become quite active again. Three of them, his Transfiguration, Potions, and Charms professors, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Assistant Professor Adrianna Thornton, and Professor Filius Flitwick, were all straightening up as if preparing to say something.

"Ah, I see we do have a few issues which we still need to discuss…" Dumbledore said, instantly straightening up again himself, his full attention on the matter at hand.

"Very well, who would like to start?"

The three professors looked at each other as if trying to say "you first."

Finally Adrianna started to speak.

"I'm not sure whether to bring this up, and I really hate to be the bringer of bad news, but…"

Beside her two professors were mumbling, "Sure she does, she loves to ruin our days."

"Yes, there is not one day where she doesn't look for trouble," the other joked before shutting up.

"Ahem… please continue, Adi," Dumbledore said, giving a small stern look across the table at the guilty pair.

"Yes… as I was saying…" Professor Thornton continued as if nothing had happened. It was common knowledge that most of the other professors didn't really like her and only worked with her because they had to.

"I hate to bring this up, but a number of students have brought up an issue to my attention which concerns one of the newest additions to our family."

She paused for a second for the general effect then continued. "Quite frankly, I believe Mr. Harry Granger is not just a security risk but a real danger to the school. I have received numerous complaints from the student body of situations where Harry has threatened and in some cases even assaulted certain students." Thornton neglected to mention that the only students who were allegedly assaulted came from Slytherin.

"With the recent attack on Professor Blake, I tend to agree."

"And what, may I ask, do you suggest we do about this?" asked Minerva from the other side of the table, cutting her fellow professor off. "Harry has been given direct protection from the Ministry, and not just the Ministry, but from both Departments of Mysteries, both our own and from America," Minerva said briskly.

"Besides, he hasn't really done anything wrong yet… or has he?" she asked.

"Well, I realise it's not up to me, but I'd suggest we at least limit his interaction with the rest of the school for the beginning. Putting him into a separate dorm from the rest would be a good way to start.

"Some of his close friends are well known members of the Marauders… should they influence him, we could have a real problem on our hands in the near future…." Thornton began to say.

Dumbledore shook his head sadly, and looked out of the window for a few seconds as his fellow professors argued amongst themselves.  
It was these moments that made him wonder if he was fit for his job.

Scowling, disappointed in himself, he quickly discarded the thought from his mind then turned back to the matter at hand.  
"I'm sorry, Adi, but Minerva is right, there is nothing we can do about Harry at this time," he said, interrupting his professors, taking control of the situation.

"Taking Harry away from his friends or his friends away from Harry is also just not possible.

"It just wouldn't be fair to the boy, not to forget, most likely an act of cruelty in the eyes of the law, so no, that will just not happen.

"Besides, what do you think would happen if we took away his friends…?

"Harry is already unstable, or kind of at least… I don't want to know what would happen if we took away his only form of relief… no… we will not undertake any actions against Harry at this time… no, not unless the situation becomes more serious."

"And that's final," Dumbledore added quickly, seeing Thornton open her mouth to retort.

Seeing that it was no use, Thornton closed her mouth again… _Maybe somewhere, someplace, somehow,_ she thought in resignation; she wasn't going to give up on this matter yet. She still had not forgiven Harry for making her look bad in front of her Slytherins in the last class… and she probably never would.  
_That brat, how dare he correct me,_ she thought angrily.

"Ok… any other problems, or issues?" Dumbledore asked, the twinkle reappearing in his eyes as he looked back across the staff table.

"As a matter of fact yes, an issue," said Minerva, nodding towards Filius, as she took out a piece of parchment from her robes.

Beside her, Filius also took out an identical piece of parchment, though slightly smaller.

"These," said Minerva, handing Dumbledore the papers, "are officially signed petitions from both of our houses…or rather from those who used to be members of our houses," she added with a sigh.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at hearing the word 'petitions'.

"Both exclaim the specific wish to create a fifth Quidditch team, for our unofficial Dragon house," Minerva said, sniffing slightly as she said the word 'Dragon'.

It was common knowledge in the school that she had lost a substantial number of students to the 'Dragon plague,' as several staff members called it.

"Ah, another attempt to disassemble your house, Mini… are your Gryffindors trying to leave a sinking ship," Thornton joked, receiving a very vicious death glare from Minerva.

Dumbledore sighed; this was not what he had in mind when he gave Harry permission to stay in another dorm from the rest of the school.

Creating another Quidditch team would mean hosting more matches during the year, which in turn meant a sizable change in all timetables, not to mention the additional costs involved during the year.

For him it was a manageable nightmare.

_Why do the founders hate me?_ he thought miserably as he turned his attention back to the meeting.

"Headmaster," said Thornton, "surely you won't allow this…letting them create their own team would be like a declaration to accept that a new house has been born," she said, for the first time a little bit of worry in her voice.

"The students are already calling the Dragon dorm another house," said Minerva. She too was worried, though in her case it was for her Gryffindors; she had already lost at least half of them.

"Yes, now that you mention it, I have indeed heard numerous rumours in the student population. Many are already referring to the Dragon dorm as the house of Dragonheart," said Professor Slughorn, the head of Slytherin, with amusement in his voice.

A few other professors laughed at this, but Minerva, Filius, and Pomona, all Hogwarts house heads who had lost students to the plague, including the Potions assistant professor, Thornton, who wasn't, did not.  
Dumbledore looked fascinated, but the thought of all of the extra paper work scared him.

"Do you realize what you're saying?" asked Dumbledore, looking around the room.

At the serious nods of his fellow professors, he looked at the petitions.  
Yes, there were many names from both houses on those papers, he noticed as he read them.  
With a sinking feeling, already resigning himself to more work, he looked back up again.

"Ok… here is what we will do… in light of the circumstances, I propose we allow them to set up their own team… however," he said loudly, hearing the outcries from his staff.

"I will not allow the creation of a new house… it is my hope that when Harry leaves at the end of this year, both the new dorm and its team will leave with him.

"Is that acceptable?" he asked, looking around the room.

Many of his professors looked rebellious.

Finally, after a few more minutes of hot arguing and a quick vote, everybody, though some grudgingly, agreed.

The outcome was that a new team had been born… not just a team, but an unofficial house too. The start, while still unofficial, of a house named 'Dragonheart'.

Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin were now no longer alone.

**_:End of flash back_**:

* * *

Although the Dragon house was not formally recognized as an official house, that did not stop its students from treating it as such. 

The fact that you could not earn your house, or incidentally lose your house, points but could still get detention was only a minor deterrent. In fact, it only made life easier for the Dragons and as such life was much more relaxed.

The day after the birth of perhaps not just his own Quidditch team but also his own house, as unofficial at it may have been, Harry Granger was officially voted into power by his fellow students as its first Head of House. Since the staff did not issue one, they had to make due with their own.

His nicknaming: 'Harry of Dragonheart,' became a school joke amongst the staff and a few of the Slytherins. The Slytherins from the train decided to stay quiet about it as all were too afraid to invoke the wrath of the Dragons, or rather the wrath of one particular Dragon, named Harry Granger, the new Lord of Dragonheart.

For the others, however, it was very real and was treated very seriously.

Harry, though not really interested in the position, and rather put off by it at first, quickly saw the worth of the situation and took up his new office with amusement.

The birth of the new house was celebrated with a great feast, sponsored by Hogwarts house-elves, which would have lasted through most of the night, had Harry not stopped it after two in the morning.

Since the Dragonheart house did not have a 'real' head of house, and so no real rules, Harry, in his official capacity as Dorm Monitor, and also in his unofficial capacity as founder and Head of house, quickly issued a few rules of his own.

In doing so, he not only put himself into a position of great power (power which he hoped would not only later come in handy when he dealt with his three Death Eaters), but power which would also eventually be useful when dealing with Hogwarts staff should he need it at a later stage.

After a short impromptu speech, Harry quickly made a few of his loyal friends, namely Sirius (against his better judgment) and Remus, as well as three other students, one from the former Hufflepuffs and two from former Ravenclaw, due to their house member numbers, 'unofficial' house prefects.

Remus had lost his Gryffindor prefect's badge when he had joined the Dragons and was very grateful. As for James, he was outside of the prefects' regime. While he did recognize Harry's unofficial position as official, as Head Boy he was universally accepted throughout the whole school and so did not need to worry about his badge and incidentally about a position as Prefect. Sirius, Harry knew, would have to be kept on a short leash.

Harry remained the only Dorm Monitor of Hogwarts.

A dragon had come, the dragon had seen, and now it was here to stay. By the end of the week, Hogwarts had been changed… forever

* * *

**Note(2)**While reading through different stories I found out that the idea of creating a fifth house near the Room of requirement had already been taken. This small note is to alert anybody who may accuse me of stealing that idea that I have asked the author Hermione16 (Harry's New Life) for permission and it has been granted. Thank you! 


	9. Quidditch, Plans and Complications

**Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 9**

**Quidditch, Plans and Complications**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and his friends obey me... However, I don't own them. J.K. Rowling does. 

**Chapter Beta'd by:** RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

**_A week later #Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch, Dragon Tryouts_**

Harry and everybody of the Dragon dorm who were interested in trying out for the newly sanctioned Dragon team were standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch.

Harry, new and first Captain of the Dragon team, was holding a box, which held the usual Quidditch appliances, including spares.

Four Quaffles, eight Bludgers, about sixteen Beater bats, and of course two Snitches.

Just what you needed for an everyday Quidditch tryout, at least in Harry's opinion.

Harry had won the election of Quidditch Captain with ease. Not that there were many campaign rivals to begin with. At first, James had been interested in the position along with a few others, but when he and the others heard that Harry, the head himself, was looking for the position, he had known better than to interfere. Anybody who did received an unpleasant surprise to say the least, though looking back they were all happy about it in the end.

James always thought of himself as a really good Quidditch player, a natural even, but seeing a lost cause when it stared him in the face (that is, when he looked at himself in the mirror that morning), quickly retracted his application for Captain as soon as he saw Harry's name on the tryout list for Seeker. The rest soon followed. One look of Harry on a broom was enough to ensure that. It was quite a humbling experience to say the least. Harry was just a class for himself.

Harry, on his new 'state of the art' Nimbus 200, seemed to be able to make the most impossible turns and dives. It was almost as if he did not fear the ground…or death itself.

Of course, none of them knew that Harry had once owned a Firebolt, a broom so advanced it had not even been invented yet, or that he had already died once.

Indeed, when compared to a Firebolt, the new Nimbus 200 was, well in Harry's mind anyway, one word… dishonourable…usually. He was only currently using the Nimbus because that was the best there was at this time.

Harry's old broom from the future, the Firebolt, could have reached a top speed of 170 kilometres per hour. The Nimbus, however, only reached a meagre 60.

The Firebolt came equipped with multiple highly advanced charms on it. The Nimbus 200 had only the most basic. Hardly a challenge for Harry, until it came to remembering to brake in time. He even nearly fell asleep once, much to his embarrassment and amusement of the school (excluding the professors). The outcome was a small trip to the school nurse to fix a broken nose and a few scrapes which he received when he flew head first into one of the Herbology green houses, smashing through the glass when a class was in progress.

It became the primary discussion and school joke in the Great Hall for a week. Harry received a visit to the headmaster and a long detention afterwards. One which he took with amusement… it could have been a lot worse. Lucky for Harry, Dumbledore had been amused rather than angry.

Seeing Harry dive to the ground upside down using the broom's maximum speed of 60 kilometres per hour and rise back up into the air, still at 60, at the last possible second, Snitch firmly in hand, hair touching the grass, was enough to make all Dragon rivals throw their brooms away in utter disgust and defeat while most of the teachers gasped and clutched their hearts in fright… all but Thornton, who secretly hoped that Harry would break his neck.

After Harry's brief display of power, the support of the Dragons to the wonderboy from Hell (they had no idea) who they called their 'head of house' was just too huge to begin with anyway.

In fact, over the next few weeks quite a few professional Quidditch scouts came to offer Harry a place on their Quidditch teams, including the English, Irish, and Bulgarian teams, but to everybody's surprise, which resulted in a few near heart attacks and Harry's complete remorse, he declined each time.

He had a job to do and he knew it.

In the end, Harry had won the Captaincy before the campaign had even begun and before he could even write a single campaign speech.

Not that he complained, but it was somewhat… unsatisfying.

Before the scouts came the other houses had not really seen Harry's skill themselves, though they did get worried when they heard the rumours… immensely worried.

That was why a lot of them were in the stands, to watch the tryouts. They just had to know if the rumours were true.

* * *

Looking at the stands briefly, Harry smiled to himself, an evil sadistic smile indeed. He was sure he was going to enjoy himself this year. He was going to show them who was king. 

True, he did not have many team members to choose from, his house being so small, but he had a plan up his sleeve to make up for that discrepancy.

Just the night before, he had snuck out of his dorm in the middle of the night to go to the Room of Requirement, which incidentally was right beside his house's entrance, much to his immense pleasure. It made sneaking out at night a non-issue.

His mission: to create the world's best broom… not just the best… but the ultimate un-defeatable broom. Only the Weasley twins knew that Harry had experience in making brooms, having trained Harry in the art themselves. Seeing that the twins didn't exist yet and since only Harry knew about the Room of Requirement at this time, he had the perfect place to do it, too.

Using the items he had ordered from shops worldwide and disappearing from public view for long periods every night, he began planning. The items, which he had ordered while still staying in the Leaky Cauldron, had arrived in a timely fashion and so Harry was confident he would have at least one 'super' broom made just in time for their first match against Ravenclaw in a few weeks' time.

Everybody mistook Harry's disappearances as Harry trying to avoid his immense fame, but they would get a great surprise when the time came.

For now, however, he had to make do with what he had… a boring Nimbus 200, while slow and outdated (for him), it was still the best broom around, and the envy of every Quidditch player… at this time.

"Eh, Harry, are you all right?" asked James from beside him.

"The uninvited fans aren't scaring you are they, my Lord Dragonheart… ?" asked Sirius cheekily with a grin on his face, like most days lately.

"No, my dear Sirius… I am just enjoying the view, thank you very much," Harry answered, rolling his eyes while coming back out of his dream.

He could continue to dream later… for now he had tryouts to hold and these would not be forgotten, he would make sure of that.

Turning back to look at his dorm mates, Harry saw there were just enough for the team and a few who would act as substitutes. There were no real leftovers really to talk about, so no matter what happened, everybody worthy enough would get some sort of place on the team.

Therefore, Harry was not worried that he would not have a team: His main concern was just who was going to be playing actively and who would be on the bench as a reserve.

"Ok, lads and lasses… this is it, now we decide who will be a star and who will be a pencil pusher for the year," he said, which made everybody laugh.

"And what's so bad about being a pencil pusher?" asked a Ravenclaw who was standing in a group nearby.

Harry ignored his resident Dragon bookworm. He had better things to do anyway.

"Since we are so few I will skip the usual pre-tryout run around the pitch. There just aren't enough of us; we can't afford to weed out the bad fliers…so I expect everybody here to be able to fly… those of you who can't… or think work comes first…which it usually does, but not now… scram."

Nobody moved, as Harry knew they wouldn't, though a few did laugh at Harry's added comment. The Ravenclaw scowled but stayed quiet.

_Why would they have come otherwise if they couldn't fly_, he asked himself_…that would be just pointless…right?_

"Let me make it perfectly clear that I will expect the utmost from all of you this year… just like I would every year."

"Most, if not all, of you will think my training methods to be out of this world... even devilish… TOUGH!! … Anybody who doesn't like that can leave… RIGHT NOW!" Harry said in an extremely cold voice.

This was the most crucial moment; if everybody left now, all would be lost.

Luckily nobody moved.

"Ok, you have been warned… let us now progress straight to the Beater tryouts… shall we?" he asked, relieved that no one had left.

After hearing a roar of approval, he handed everybody who wanted to tryout for the Beater position a Beater bat. There were four Dragons trying for the Beater positions of the six positions available on the team. That meant, of these four, two would become Beaters on the active team…two would not. The other two would then have a chance to become a Chaser, the Keeper, or they could always become one of the reserve Beaters. Harry, of course, as Captain had first pick and as such he already held the position of Seeker (though he was itching to try out the Beater position).

"Ok… let's see what you're all made out of… shall we?" he announced.

"I want each and every one of you to try and hit the Bludger here," he said, motioning towards a Bludger in the hands of a nearby volunteer, "…as hard as you can at that mat over there," he said, pointing at a mat nearby.

"The two with the best accuracy and the most power combined will get the jobs."

"Watch, and I'll show you how it's done," he said as he asked the volunteer to release the Bludger into the air.

Quickly picking up a bat of his own, he put himself into position and waited for the Bludger to return, and return it did.

Swerving in a rough arc, it flew back towards Harry.

'TWACK!!!' With a strike that echoed throughout the whole pitch, the crowd and Harry's team mates cried out in shock as Harry hit the Bludger with such force that it split in two from the power of his strike.

Harry smiled at the looks of incredulity and complete astonishment… and fear… his friends were giving him. But it was nothing compared to the horror of the watching Slytherins. The few members of the Slytherin and other teams, which were in the stands, had white faces and were beginning to look very worried indeed.

"Well, we may have to work on that," said Harry, grinning as he studied his handy work.

"Normally, of course, I'd expect the Bludger to still be in one piece after you hit it," he added to the humbled crowd around him.

The power rating on his strike had read an amazing 666 points. That was 166 points above that what was normally expected for a strike.

Harry just looked at the number and smiled evilly. Only he knew that he had used wandless magic to increase his strength on the strike and he intended to keep it that way. Above N.E.W.T. level wandless, nonverbal magic, that is what it had been, but what people did not know could not hurt them…right?… well… nearly.

Harry was sure that after that strike, he would never be allowed to play as a Beater; the staff would just not allow him. What if that had been a head? But he did not intend to anyway. Seeker was his profession, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Ok… everybody, your turns," he said, taking out and holding up another Bludger from the Quidditch box. He would have to pay for the last one, but that was the least of his worries.

The rest of the Beater tryouts turned out to be normal. Nobody on his potential team could bring their power levels up to the usual normal maximum of 500 points, but that was not what Harry was looking for. For him, skill, not brute force, was important. The ability to actually hit your target was the name of the game, and of course if you did pack a good punch, so much the better.

In the end he had two new highly motivated Beaters, one male, one female, who while not as strong as they could have been, worked well together as a team and that was, in Harry's books, much more important than anything else.

For the Chasers it was much the same. Harry concentrated mostly on team playing and passing abilities and he was happy to see that James and Sirius both made a spot on the team. The only downside was the third Chaser, though that was probably because James and Sirius seemed to depend mostly on themselves and had the tendency to ignore their third team mate.

Harry would have changed the team and opted for three players who did work together rather than just two and a half but he did not have that many players to choose from.

That, and the fact that James and Sirius were his two best friends, ignoring the point that one was his father, the other his godfather, made him keep them instead. In the end, he gambled and decided that he would just have to work on this problem during the training exercises. Besides, they were very good.

The third and final part, the Keeper trials, was probably the most note-worthy of all of the trials.

After Harry had announced the Keeper trials, everybody who had not yet been chosen for a different position had stepped forward.

A few, while not a lot, were still too many for the single Keeper position.

But Harry, in his craziness, and complete sadistic evilness, had a secret plan up his sleeve.

* * *

**:Flash Back:**

"Ok everybody," he had said.

"We now have two Beaters, three Chasers, and a Seeker… that's me. All that's left is the Keeper.

"Now, obviously there are just too many of you here for one simple Keeper… so…" Here he started grinning wickedly, which made the crowd extremely nervous as they wondered what this devil named Granger had in mind for them this time.

"Here is what we will do… The first person who manages to stop three of my tries gets the position… so who's up for it?" he asked, glaring mischievously, dangerously.

Everybody in the crowd gulped and quite a few took steps back. If it was going to be anything like what Harry had done with a Beater's bat, or with the poor Chaser who had been knocked out by that Quaffle, they really did not feel like trying.

That was just what Harry had in mind though. At that moment, he was looking for a fearless Keeper: One that would stop at nothing to prevent a Quaffle from going though those goddamn goal hoops. Whether he or she lost a random body part in the process or not did not make a difference... well, not much anyway. Harry could sense their fear… he could feel their fear, he loved their fear. Especially that of the Slytherins in the stands.

Only three hopefuls kept their ground, though shakily, and they were all given several looks of great respect from all of those around them who either had not had the courage, or were just not crazy enough to do the same.

"Ah wonderful, all right then, who's first?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows in reply.

It took a minute, but finally one of the remaining contestants, surprisingly a former Hufflepuff, stepped forward and mounted his broom.

Harry watched him fly to the goal hoops and get into a defensive position around the far goal hoop.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Harry flew to the penalty area of the pitch. Then, his eyes turning to red, he signaled one of his Chasers to pass him the Quaffle.

Luckily he was too far away for anybody to notice the fearsome change in his eyes.

Taking one last look at the position of his doomed Keeper-on-trial, Harry took the incoming Quaffle and, with another of his strength spells, threw it directly towards the right goal hoop.

The Keeper never even saw it coming. Before he knew it, the Quaffle had flown through the hoop.

_"Dong!"_ With its chime, the hoop acknowledged the goal.

"What… oh come on… you can't be serious," said the Keeper, now highly annoyed. "Was that it?" he asked.

"Yes, that's it," said Harry with another evil, sadistic smile. "Are you ready for the next?" he asked.

The Keeper gaped at him in utter disbelief. "How am I supposed to stop a Quaffle if I can't even see it?" he asked in total disgust.

"Simple: you aim, then you beat it away with your broom; if you can, you catch it; if you can't catch it, you fly in its way," Harry answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

The Hufflepuff just looked at him incredulously and then said, "You're impossible." With a swift motion he turned around and flew over to the stands to watch.

Harry just shrugged and let him go. _One down, one to go_, he thought as he turned his head to look at the final two competitors, a male and a female, two 7th years and both former Gryffindors.

To their credit both stayed where they were. "Ok, next please," he said in an extremely cold voice, one that he had acquired during his time in Hell. The two competitors stared at each other. At that moment, both understood. Here was a man… a fearsome leader… who commanded total dedication and total obedience to a common cause. There was only one way to deal with such people.

Giving each other one last look, cringing slightly at what they knew would happen next, they nodded, and then the girl stepped forward and boarded her broom.

With a look of fierce, if scared, determination and total dedication, she took her place amongst the goal hoops.

Her rival and everybody else in the stand watched anxiously as she took a deep breath and readied herself. Holding her bat, she nodded.

Harry studied her for a second, and then smiled; she was just what the team needed, he could sense it. Nodding towards James, he motioned him to toss him another Quaffle.

James passed the Quaffle and nearly closed his eyes when Harry threw it with full magical force, this time towards the middle goal post, just beside the girl.

Then the unthinkable happened. Using all of her intuition, the girl threw herself in front of the Quaffle. With a horrible shriek, which was heard at the far end of the school, the Quaffle hit her left arm, breaking it in half.

With a strangled cry, the Quaffle was deflected away from the goal hoop. She lost her balance and started to fall.

Harry casually, not missing a beat, or raising an eyebrow in reply, cast a Levitation Charm on her and gently guided her to the ground.

Slowly he flew down to the ground and walked over to her. His eyes back to normal, he looked at the last competitor. He gave him a questioning glance.

The boy gave one look at his rival, and then nodded. Without another word, he turned around and walked away; his thoughts were clear… she deserved the position and he would have to make do as a reserve.

Harry smiled and turned to face the rest of the crowd. "That's what I expect from all of you… fearlessness and total dedication, even when the odds are heavily against you.

"Please welcome our new Keeper, Julie Greystone," he said, then turned back to face her.

He could see that she was in great pain; she was crying, tears were rapidly falling down her cheeks and she was shaking violently.

Placing his right hand over her broken arm, he smiled kindly then he closed his eyes. Concentrating deeply, he moved his hand across her wound. A bright white light appeared just above his hand, healing everything but her broken bones, while she shrieked in annoyance from the pain of the Healing Spell. It was one of Satan's.

Opening his eyes again, he noticed that most were looking at him; their eyes were wide open with disbelief, fear, and some in confusion. _What? I am a Ministry test subject, after all,_ thought Harry.

Amongst them, Minerva, who had arrived after hearing the girl scream, just stood where she was, staring at the scene in front of her. She was too shocked to move.

"Julie," said Harry speaking to the crying girl. "Come, I'll escort you to the hospital wing," he said kindly to her. "Let's have Poppy give you something for that bone, oh and welcome to the team, you've earned it," he added, giving her a real genuine smile.

Julie nodded dazedly and with a little help from Harry, she got to her feet.

Harry motioned to two 'Dragons' nearby and they promptly came over to help.

A minute later, Julie was on her way to the school, and from there straight to the hospital wing.

Only then when they were passing by did Harry see Minerva, who was still looking at him with a shocked expression. It was clear she could not believe what had just happened.

Speechless, she just watched as Harry gave a few last orders concluding the tryouts while at the same time helping Julie.

As he walked past her, he calmly said, "Good day, Professor." Then, without another word, not waiting for her to reply, they were gone.

The deputy headmistress didn't know what to do. Her thoughts were all jumbled up. On one hand, she was horrified about what had happened. Completely and utterly horrified. A girl had just been hurt terribly, intentionally… willingly, it was completely planned and yet she didn't really seem to care. True, she was in a lot of pain and it was obvious that she didn't like it in the least, but she seemed to accept it without a single complaint.

Minerva had been walking across the open courtyard heading towards her classroom to prepare for her first class the next day with the third years, when all of a sudden she heard this horrible ear-crushing scream coming from the Quidditch pitch. It sounded like the wail of an injured banshee.

Fearing the worst, she had immediately rushed to the pitch, wand drawn, ready to risk her life for the students at a second's notice, only to be surprised that the situation was totally under control.

Harry Granger. That boy continued to surprise her at every turn. True, she knew of his immense magical power, true, she knew of his background (at least she thought she did), but still, seeing the way he handled a crisis situation, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, without a moment's hesitation, kept her completely speechless.

She knew she was supposed to act in a certain way… to take control of the situation, probably even punish the boy for putting his classmate into a life-threatening situation, but she just couldn't do it.

Seeing the overwhelming loyalty in his peers' eyes, this overwhelming sense of dedication and trust… she just didn't know what she was supposed to do.

He was the ultimate leader, a nearly fearless, fearsome individual, loyal to his friends. He was there for them if they needed him, able to handle the most difficult situations effectively at the spur of a moment, a person everybody would listen to and respect and who his enemies would fear…

Slowly, with a great sigh, shaking her head, she started to walk back to the castle. She was going to report this and then hopefully, together they would see.

**_:End of Flashback:_**

* * *

**_Three weeks later# Harry's hidden Private Study, Room of Requirement_**

Harry was sitting in his personal study, staring into space.

In his mind, he was going through everything that had happened in the last few weeks.

Beside him, one on a table, the other on a perch nearby, his two familiars were watching him with interest. On another table, a partly finished version of a prototype broom was lying, dismantled, waiting for its creator to put it together.

Just in the last two months, Harry had gone from an unknown student to one of the most respected, feared individuals in all of Hogwarts' history. As far as he knew, even Godric, a feared dueler in his time, and Salazar, the most feared professor Hogwarts had ever seen, had never caused as much fear and trepidation as he had. Well, but then again, neither had either ever been the personal apprentice to the devil, had they?

Harry James Potter, also known as Harry Granger, or by his closest friends as Harry of Dragonheart, founder of the unofficial house of Dragonheart and its unofficial Head of House, couldn't help but wonder.

"Am I going corrupt… am I being too hard on them… am I going… Dark?" he asked aloud, staring out ahead of himself at a blank space in a nearby wall.

_Why would you say that?_ asked a voice nearby.

Harry sighed. "Oh Icey," he said, speaking to his phoenix, then switching to Phoenixonia: _… ever since I came here, I have been steadily changing the past at every turn. _

_Before I died, I was content with just being a normal boy, one of many… one amongst millions…_

_Hell, I didn't even want to be acknowledged… _

_Now, just like before, I am one of the most well-known wizards in the wizarding world …and I love it._

Harry gave out a small laugh…_ Hell, just two days ago, I even received an owl from one of Voldemort's recruiters… seems Voldy has taken an interest in my abilities… of course I… respectfully declined, but…_ Harry paused.

_Harry, please… you're not going corrupt… you're just having a bit of fun… that's all,_ said Icetasia, though she too didn't approve of everything Harry did.

_If you really feel bad about it… why don't you concentrate on your mission… it is time, you know,_ she answered.

Harry nodded in agreement, thinking of the irony that he had been sent, while unwillingly, to kill, by God. Then, speaking in common animal language, so that both familiars could understand him…

_You're right, Icey… as always…it's time I concentrated on my mission._

Hearing this, Pry, Harry's 5-meter long, highly poisonous snake, who was currently at her full size, quickly opened her eyes and looked at Harry; her interest had been re-awakened.

_Your mission?_ she asked…

_Yes, Pry… I have a mission…_ Harry answered.

_Before I met you, I was given by… several powerful beings… a mission to… exterminate four certain… individuals…_

_Three future Death Eaters and one rising Dark Lord._

_Future?_ asked Pry, giving Harry a strange look.

Harry laughed. _Yes, Pry, future… believe it or not, I am… shall we say a sort of… time traveller… sent back in time to kill certain… threats to my time… complicated… I know, so please don't ask me,_ Harry answered.

_I see_… said Pry, now intrigued_, now I understand why you were so excited to find a highly poisonous snake like me_, Pry answered, her eyes gleaming excitedly from the knowledge that she really would get to kill someone soon.

_So when do we start… exterminating the vermin?_ Pry asked.

_Vermin is good,_ Harry said laughing, thinking about a certain rat. _Not sure yet… I have been thinking about sending you to a dorm to kill off a certain student... but I do not want to lose you… even if it turned out to be an innocent mistake, you would probably be destroyed afterwards… so, that is not going to happen,_ Harry said, considering his options.

_Glad to hear it,_ said Pry… _But that does not solve our problem,_ she added.

_True,_ Harry conceded, _it doesn't,_ he answered, a smile appearing across his face.

"Well Harry… it seems to me we only have one real valid option," said another voice suddenly from nearby.

For a second Harry was startled and already had his wand out to Obviliate the intruder, but he quickly realised who had spoken.

"Damn it …did you have to frighten me like that …Harry?" asked Harry letting out a sigh as he relaxed again.

"Sorry!" said the same voice, though it was clear it wasn't sorry at all. In fact it was chuckling slightly.

Harry sighed again, turning towards the voice until he looked at a portrait of himself. The same portrait which he had shrunk and taken from the Dragon common room that faithful first night.

"Anyway… what did you have in mind?" asked Harry, giving the portrait of himself his full undivided attention. While Harry thought his portrait to be annoying at times, he had found his own input to indeed be valuable from time to time. Especially since he never had to update the portrait, since it always seemed to know what Harry had done during the day. Indeed it even knew what he had eaten for supper the last night.

_"_Well…I realise I may only be a portrait…a portrait of you I may add…but in my opinion it sounds like the only real way would be if we set a trap… or better still, we make it look like an accident," the Portrait Harry answered.

_"_Hmm," Harry mumbled to himself. "That does sound promising…What about if we…"

Harry, Icetasia, Portrait Harry, and Pry continued to plan into the early hours of the morning… finally Portrait Harry had a brain wave (if you could say that a portrait had a brain):

First, he would join the Marauders, then he would need to gain their total trust. To do that he would have to participate in a prank… then, once privy to James's, Remus's, Sirius's, and above all Peter's… private plans, he would then plan his move directly. At the right moment, he would spring the trap… then, under the protection of an alibi, he would sink away into the night… simple, really… if done right, but disastrous if done wrong.

Harry would just have to make sure that he didn't make a mistake…

Well… mistakes were ok… just as long as you didn't get caught… and achieved your goal.

If every thing went well… then by the end of the month, there would be one student less in the Hog of the Warts.

Happy that he had his plans made, and yawning deeply, Harry retired to bed… he had an important day ahead of himself. He was about to join the ranks of the Marauders... and then… only time would tell.

* * *

**_Headmaster's Private Chambers #Hogwarts( same moment)_**

Albus Dumbledore was lying in his bed. He was having difficulties sleeping.

Something just didn't feel right this night. What, he didn't know, but something just didn't feel right, he was sure of it.

It was as if a dark shadow had descended over his school and an icy wind had just run down his side… a forewarning perhaps, but he just couldn't place it. Something was about to happen at Hogwarts, something terrible.

Getting up, he walked to a table in the room and sat down in a chair nearby. He had a terrible headache, which just wouldn't go away, nor did it show signs of getting better.

"Just one of those nights, I guess," Dumbledore said to himself as he called one of the house-elves to bring him a cup of hot chocolate.

_Am I going mad?_ he asked himself, as he reached for one of his lemon drops and popped one into his mouth.

The last two weeks certainly had not been good for his health and he knew it. With all of his professors quarrelling about that dratted new student called Harry Granger, he just could not stop worrying.

First thing on Thursday, two days from now, when he, and over all the Ministry, had the time, he would call on them and ask them a few questions about Harry… maybe he could find something which could help him settle his nerves, he thought.

_It might not be much, but at least it will help me cope with the worry,_ he thought as he finished his drink.

Going over what he knew about Harry, which wasn't much, Dumbledore took a dreamless sleep potion, then he went back to bed… Thursday would bring answers... he was sure of it... _On Thursday we shall see._

With those last few thoughts, he drifted away, into a deep dreamless slumber.

* * *

**_One day later, Wednesday, #Room of Requirement_**

Harry was once again in the Room of Requirement, working on his special broom. It was finally finished, and with the first Quidditch match only two weeks away, just in time too.

The broom, which he had christened the 'Dragonbolt', could make an extraordinary 200 kilometres per hour in 10 seconds flat. That was 30 kilometres more than his old Firebolt, a legendary speed in this time, unknown, unheard of, crazy, wicked, unbeatable, a broom for the century, the broom of all brooms… well, you get the point.

Harry grinned at the thought of seeing the Ravenclaws' (Not the Slytherins', as would have been the norm in his time) faces on the pitch in three days' time. _It will be a great day indeed,_ he thought as he lovingly caressed the broom's smooth edges.

His little baby could not only make 0 to 200 in ten seconds, oh no, it was also equipped with the most advanced charms and spells, which Harry knew of from his time in the future.

Instant Braking Charms, which stopped the broom in midair from 200 to 0 in 2 seconds… well, nearly instant.

At first, he had not been sure about this and had been afraid of potential injuries, but combined with a Neck and Body Strengthening Charm and a Cushioning Charm to boot it had worked. Harry did not want to consider what would have happened otherwise. All the rider had to worry about now was how to keep his or her lunch inside…and not to faint from the immense acceleration, or deceleration as it may be… something which could be fixed with a lot of training.

The usual Unbreakable Charms and Automatic Offside Braking Charms, which protected it from going offside, and last but not least, an added Water Shield Charm, which protected the rider from the elements and let him or her see clearly in the worst of the extremes of weather, at least for about four to five meters; a stormy match with dementors was on his mind.

Harry was particularly proud of that one, as it had taken him a full week of intense research in the school's library during his spare time. Even with his advanced abilities and memory, it just wasn't enough to find a spell which suited his needs. The Restricted Section of the library gave him the answer he needed.

Now looking at his new broom, a broom better than even his old Firebolt, he knew that that was it. Now nothing could stand in his way to the Cup.

Laughing loudly, a sound that echoed through the whole room, Harry cackled like an old witch from a Muggle fairy tale.

A few meters away, Icetasia was looking at him nervously.

_God, I hope you're sure about this one_, she thought to herself as she flashed away, eager to get away from the mad man nearby which she called her master.

Pry, who was hidden under a table, hissed violently and slithered into a hole, which had suddenly appeared nearby out of no where… Happy to also get away from the same crazy master, she went on a hunt for some mice… and the room supplied.

While in his little corner of the room, Portrait Harry has busy covering his ears, wishing to the heavens for his dubious, dreadfully demented, devil, double to shut up.

* * *

After a while, Harry stopped laughing, and put his broom back down on the table.

Wiping a few tears of mirth away, he checked up on a potion, which was silently brewing in the temporary fireplace of the room.

It was a special potion, one which he was secretly preparing for a prank. A prank which he hoped to perform during Christmas… it would be his ticket … his way into the ultimate trust of the Marauders.

Satisfied that his potion was brewing nicely and that it would be finished on time, he commanded the room to change into a somewhat more leisurely environment (while obviously keeping the fire burning).

Tonight was a special night.

Not just because he had finally created his 'master' broom. True, the prototype, which he was sure was going to shock the world, was definitely part of it...but…

No!

Tonight he was going to become a member of the Marauders… a real Marauder. He was going to join his father and godfather in the ranks of the greatest troublemakers of all time… whether they liked it or not. He would make sure of it.

Quickly conjuring himself a nice stylish black cape, which covered his whole body and a few blood red under-robes, he put them on and settled down in a nice fluffy armchair, which was facing away from the door. That, combined with some stylish devil horns and long black hair, made him look very smug… and devilish indeed.

_Any second now,_ he thought expectantly as he waited, and sure enough, just when he had thought those last few words, the door to the room opened.

Prior to entering the Room of Requirement earlier on that day, Harry had 'leaked' the whereabouts of the room to his closest friends, what it was and where to find it, telling them to ask the room to see him, and to tell no one else about it, so help them God.

James, Sirius, Remus, and unfortunately Peter, who if Harry liked it or not was also a Marauder, were now entering the room.

The first one through the door was James.

As official leader of the Marauders he had taken it upon himself to be the first to 'discover,' this new room, the room which the Lord Dragonheart had oh so wisely and graciously told him about.

He stepped in and took his first look around. Sirius and the rest soon followed him.

"How many more new rooms are we going to find before we have an accurate Marauder's Map," he asked out loud, before James could silence him.

"A worthy question, Padfoot!" said Harry from his armchair, a statement that made Sirius cry out in alarm.

"What?…oh… it's you!" he said, finally recognising Harry's voice.

"How did you know that I'm called Padfoot?" he asked in a somewhat worried tone. He was staring at the back of the armchair nervously, wondering why his friend and Head of House didn't face them. He could not remember having told Harry about it.

Harry grinned. "My dear Padfoot, did you really think the Marauders… Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and of course their leader, Prongs … a bunch of amateur pranksters, could stay hidden from me…the Master of Chaos, apprentice to the Devil himself, the Shadow from the depths of Hell… the terror of the innocent… the one and only… Lord Doom?" asked Harry, getting up and with a flash of light a small clap of thunder, (which could only be heard in the room), and some fog, he used an advanced Hover Charm to hover himself over to the awestruck, open-mouthed Marauders. His cape and hair billowing out behind him, he let himself come to a stop in front of them.

"As one prankster to the next… I humbly pledge myself to your cause," he said with a wink and a deep bow before they could recover. "Oh, and close those mouths, will you, it's cold out here," he added mischievously.

The dumbstruck Marauders just stared at Harry with open mouths. All they could do for the next few minutes was point and stare.

"Where's the grunt, lads?... Just a cute little grunt and we'd have a perfect bunch of trolls," Harry joked. "You know…pointing… staring…talking gibberish," he added just as James started to open his mouth to speak.

James finally found his tongue. "Who are you?" he asked stupidly, ignoring Harry's comments before he could stop himself.

"Yep, talking gibberish," Harry repeated, then he burst out laughing.

The Marauders blinked and looked at him stupidly for a few seconds then they too broke down laughing as one by one they realised what had happened.

None of them ever realised a hidden magical camera that was taking snap shots of them during the whole procedure. Their dumbfounded pictures would become priceless in years to come.

Finally, they stopped laughing and Harry motioned them to take seats nearby.

Walking over to the room's main door, he quickly locked it from the inside, then he went back to join his guests.

"So, can I join you?" Harry asked hopefully.

James sobered up quickly and gave Harry a thoughtful look.

"What do you think, lads, should we let him join?" he asked out loud to the rest of the Marauders.

"Well," said Sirius, "he does know about us."

"As do the rest of the school," added James.

_Oh… that's true,_ thought Harry, taken by surprise.

"True, and we could use another member, especially if he is as good as he claims he is," "The fact that he is the head himself is only a bonus" said Remus merrily. He was still laughing quietly to himself, and was finding it difficult to speak.

"Peter?" James asked, giving the fourth Marauder a glance.

Peter just shrugged. "Fine by me," he answered, not really caring either way.

"Well then, welcome to the Marauders, Harry," James said, holding his hand out for Harry to shake.

Grinning wickedly, Harry held out his hand, but before he could take it, James quickly pulled it away.

Harry gave him a scornful surprised look. "What?" he asked.

_What did I do wrong, _he asked himself, suddenly worried.

"Sorry Harry, I almost forgot, every new member has to take an oath and a blood test before he can become an official member," James answered, apologetically.

In all of the excitement, he had forgotten about the rules… his own rules.

"An oath is fine by me, but what's this blood test about?" Harry asked, slightly worried.

"Oh nothing special, it's just so that you can't be impersonated by another person."

"Before every meeting we test each other… for Polyjuiced individuals and potential Metamorphmagi," said James "We don't want our plans ruined by a spy… do you?" James asked Harry, giving him a scrutinising look.

Harry raised his eyebrows. _My, this caution would have made Mad-Eye Moody proud,_ he thought just before he smiled and nodded.

"Count me in," he said, an answer that made James grin happily as Harry quickly said the oath of loyalty.

"Wonderful, now if you would please prick your finger… we need a few drops for the ritual," James said as he took out a small pin.

Handing Harry the pin, James continued to speak: "The blood, when mixed, binds us together in a unique way which lets us talk to each other telepathically, but not look into the others' minds as long as the distance between us isn't more than 100 meters. It also lets us recognise immediately if we are talking to an outsider who is trying to impersonate one of us, as we would not be able to communicate telepathically with them. Remus, our resident book worm…"

"Hey," said Remus with a scowl, but he wasn't annoyed.

"…Found this blood binding ritual one day while in the Restricted Section… about the only time he ever took a book from the library without checking it out," James added proudly.

"Either way, we found it useful and implemented it. While we agree it is a Dark ritual, it is one of the best precautionary practices we ever did."

Hearing this, and satisfied with the answer, Harry pricked his finger and let the blood fall onto the table. James and the rest of the Marauders quickly did the same and let their own blood mingle with his own, and then James started to chant. Sirius, Remus, and finally Peter joined in.

It was an eerie experience but finally there was a flash of green light and the ritual was finished.

_That's strange!_ said James, through the link as he looked up at Harry with a deep frown.

_What's strange,_ asked Harry back telepathically, wondering what could have possibly happened this time.

"Nah, nothing…" said James out loud.

"No really, what's wrong," asked Harry, also out loud.

"Well… you'll think me crazy but… the ritual flashed green… that only happens... well… usually only happens if an offspring… a child, either a son or a daughter, of one of the original members joins the group… but that's impossible, as none of us have had any children yet," said James, frowning.

"Oh… I see," said Harry stupidly, a small bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"Anyway, no matter, welcome to the Marauders, er… what would you like to be called?" James asked, holding out his hand again and this time he did not pull it away.

Harry gave it a good long shake. "Call me Doom… Count or Lord Doom," he said with a wicked smile, which the other Marauders returned.

"Doom it is," said James, then with the official business completed, Harry clapped his hands and food appeared on the table nearby.

"Tuck in," he said, in his best Dumbledore imitation to the surprise of his friends and with a cry of "All hail Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Doom, and Prongs," they did.


	10. The Rat And The Cat

** Harry Potter Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 10 **

**The Rat and The Cat**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and his universe belong to J.K Rowling.

**Chapter Beta'd by: **RPMcMurphy, from 'perfectimagination' Beta readers.

**A/N: **The Idea of the Marauders song was taken from the witches Song: (Shakespeare, Macbeth Act 4, Scene 1) and the Team Rocket song (pokemon)

* * *

**_Midday Thursday, #the corridor leading to the headmaster's office._**

Harry was on his way to the headmaster's office and he didn't know why.

Not that there was anything wrong with him visiting the headmaster's office, not at all, he used to do that a lot in the past, or rather future, or whatever it was called now, but a student had come to his morning Herbology class brandishing a formal letter of excuse, saying that is was extremely urgent and simply couldn't wait.

Had he still been simple carefree (well... more than he was now) Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, he wouldn't really have cared, but this time it was different. This time he wasn't the famous Potter, Gryffindor Golden child, but Harry Granger, a fake and highly dangerous Ministry-Test-Subject.

So what was the reason he had asked: No real reason.

According to the letter Dumbledore had just asked Professor Sprout to allow him, Harry Granger, to leave the classroom for an important discussion… whatever that meant.

Nothing to be worried about… right?

For some reason Harry wasn't too sure about that. He had a bad feeling about this upcoming discussion. He didn't know why… he just did.

So it was that Harry Granger, Hogwarts student extraordinaire, of great power and magnificence, was now standing in front of that all so familiar gargoyle, wondering what the old headmaster wanted.

The gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office moved aside and Harry used the familiar escalator up to the top of the staircase. The closer he got to the office, the colder the atmosphere seemed to get. Definitely not a good sign.

Standing beside the door, outside of the same office, he shivered slightly while he took a moment to put his already formidable Occlumency shields to full. Then and only then did he reach out to open the door. He did not bother knocking, as he was quite certain Dumbledore's voice was sure to ring out anyway, before he had a chance.

Sure enough, just before Harry's hands reached the door to push it open, the headmaster's voice did indeed ring out.

"Come in, Mr. Granger."

_Strange, even his voice sounds somewhat colder this morning…why is everything so cold?_ Harry wondered, becoming increasingly uneasy.

Opening the door, he immediately realised that the headmaster was not alone. Far from it. Standing in the room with the headmaster were a small army of Aurors, and with the Aurors were…

_Oh…shit_ … Harry thought as he saw the telltale uniform of a Ministry Mind Breaker.

He hated Mind Breakers. Ever since he had learned about them in Heaven he had learned to fear and avoid them at all costs.

Mind Breakers were just what the word said they were… Aurors, and not just any Aurors, but highly trained Aurors which specialised in the mind arts, particularly in two particular mind arts, Legilimency and Occlumency alike.

These feared individuals, who just incidentally happened to live in the Department of Mysteries, were only used in the most brutal, long and tiresome interrogations, which also tended to involve the most well-trained Occlumens.

_An Occlumens just like me,_ Harry thought as he stood at the door warily, fear in his normally calm green eyes.

These Aurors were so well trained in Occlumency, Legilimency and other mind arts that Memory Charms had no affect on them, so you couldn't alter their minds and they were wildly feared for their mind breaking abilities. They were the bane and utmost fear of even the strongest of Occlumens.

Harry cursed inwardly as he realised he would have to play this interrogation out the long and difficult way. This time he would not be able to charm himself to freedom… and since he needed these people alive…

_Oh damn…I'm so screwed_, he thought fretfully as he looked at his headmaster, searching frantically for any signs of friendliness in his normally warm, twinkling eyes. What he found was not good. Nil ,zilch, zippo, nope, no hope ... not good at all... they were cold, stone cold without the smallest spark of their usual friendly warmth for which the headmaster was so well known.

"Sir… er... I … I don't know what I've done to deserve this… I… I can only presume they are here for me… so...," Harry began to stutter.

"Relax… Harry," said Dumbledore coldly, but not totally devoid of all kindness.

"Relax?" asked Harry incredulously. How could he relax? Here were some of the best of the best when it came to interrogations, and it was obvious that they were all here for him.

"Yes, Harry, relax," said Dumbledore, his voice slightly kinder now, though still scornful.

He hated to lose a good student… and Harry was excellent in all of his subjects. He was the pinnacle of a good student…no, a great student, fantastic in fact. But this was official Ministry business…and the safety of the school was at stake here… maybe even the future.

"These nice fellows are only here to… check up on a few details which concern the Ministry and its Department of Mysteries."

"Few details?" asked Harry, now really very scared, but still hiding it well considering the circumstances.

"Yes… it's really rather strange, Harry, but none of these fine gentlemen here have ever heard of any details, in fact they have never even heard about you or any joined test projects they have running with their colleagues in America… it's strange, but you don't even appear in either of the Ministries' official birth files or in the last wizarding world population census. In fact, you don't seem to even exist. Would you care to guess, or better still, explain why that may be?" Dumbledore asked, once again no pity in his eyes.

Harry was now thinking very fast… he was only minutes… no seconds, away from being caught and sentenced to life in Azkaban if not the dementor's kiss, under the section of fraud, espionage, time travel violations, and overall danger to the general existence of wizarding kind. He had to think of something fast.

_Help me, God… please,_ he pleaded wildly in thought as his mind was nearly panicking.

The only reason why he was able to keep his Occlumency shields up at that moment was because of his two year, very intense training with master Occlumens like the Devil and Merlin. Even so, it had probably decreased to that of a level three at that moment, which was saying something.

Just when he was about to give up, fight for his life, break out of Hogwarts and become a hunted criminal, like Sirius had once been, his mind suddenly went blank… completely blank, not a shred of memory or former thought was left. Then, just as suddenly, new words started to form in his mind… words and images of a different life… of a powerful life… a life before the Ministry, as he knew it.

"Ok," he said quietly… suddenly confident, totally calm, and without fear. "Feel free to test my mind… but beware, the results may not be pleasing."

"What?" said an Auror nearby, fully taken by surprise.

"You know the procedure… you or I lower my Occlumency shields… your MB's get to study it… if you find anything which you don't like, you Obliviate me, then you sentence me… it's the way it is, it's the way it has always been," said Harry emotionlessly as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Somehow, he now knew the whole procedure.

The Aurors and Dumbledore gasped and stared at him with big wide-open eyes.

"Is he for real?" asked one of the Mind Breakers, slightly in awe.

"How does he know our procedures?" asked another Ministry official nearby, who seemed to look slightly intimidated.

"Answer!" an angry old wizard said in a demanding voice.

Looking at the last speaker, Harry smiled.

"Of course... Magistrate," he said, which received another round of gasps from the crowd. He wasn't supposed to have known that that rank even existed. "I know this because I am authorised to know this, by whom, I'm not at liberty to say, as I'm not allowed to under the Department of Mysteries act of 230."

Hearing this, Dumbledore's big bulbous eyes went even wider; it was now he who had great fear in his eyes, not the strange boy beside him.

"However, what I can say is, the experiment you seek is not widely known in your Ministry, nor is it known in the American Ministry.

"Only a few select members of both departments know about it, and they have all been sworn to secrecy under the supreme code of secrecy act number seven. In fact it's true that I don't exist in any census files, that is because as you already have correctly guessed I do not officially exist. You could even go as far as to say that I was never born."

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed the Magistrate.

"Why's that?" asked Harry smugly, laughing to himself in his mind. He seemed to be hearing the word serious an awful lot lately, he mused.

"That... that's … one of the oldest codes still in existence… a prime code of the old law… only heads of state, and the highest of Ministry officials are even allowed to look at information guarded under that code… and then only sparingly, with permission from the whole Wizengamot, and even then it can take up to a full year to gain the relevant permission. There is a reason why the number seven is the most magical number, you know."

"That's true," said Harry…he didn't know how he knew, he just did…and that would be all the time he would need.

"So…having established that fact and now that you realise who, or rather what, you're dealing with I'd expect that it's in your own best interests if you left this room and Obliviated what you heard here today from your minds, before an unfortunate accident occurs," said Harry evilly, his fear now totally gone again.

"Are you threatening me?" asked the Magistrate sternly.

"Nooo! Of course I am not… threatening you…you stupid fool," said Harry mockingly.

He was beginning to enjoy himself so much that he was beginning to become foolhardy and careless.

"Watch it, Granger," said an Auror. "Your immunity can only get you so far," he added.

Harry ignored him; however, he did apologise.

"Oh I'm sorry, Magistrate… forgive me…," he said, then slowly continued.

"The reason why I suggested this, is for your own protection… after all, bad things have happened to individuals who have snooped around in areas which didn't concern them… I don't suppose you want to join those unfortunates… do you?" Harry asked sweetly, raising an eyebrow as he asked, interested in everybody's responses and expressions.

"No… no, of course not, come on lads, we're finished here," said the Magistrate as he gave Harry a scared look. This boy was way out of his league.

A few seconds later, after a hurried, 'tactical' retreat, they were all gone. No reminder of their presence remained.

As soon as they were all gone Harry turned and looked at Dumbledore. Raising his other eyebrow, he gave him a questioning look.

"What…oh…er…yes you may go?" said Dumbledore wearily; he was still coming to terms with what had just happened.

Harry didn't go. Instead he cleared his throat. "Ahem!"

"What?…Oh!…yes…of course," said Dumbledore as he realised what Harry wanted.

Taking out his wand Dumbledore pointed it at himself and said, "_Obviliate_."

Looking back at Harry he raised his right hand and said: As under the rules of forced Obliviation of the Statue of Department Secrecies, my memories of most and overall relevant parts of what has been said here today have been erased. However, I still know indirectly about what has just occurred. Rest assured I will not question you on this matter again without relevant and overwhelming proof. You may go now."

Saying this, a small flash of light appeared all around Dumbledore, notifying that he had indeed done as requested.

Smiling sweetly, Harry left the room without another word, leaving behind a slightly dazed and confused Headmaster.

A minute later, Harry nearly collapsed and let himself lean on a nearby wall warily; he was absolutely exhausted. His former memories had returned to join the new ones which he had just gained. He had never felt so afraid before as he had been back in the office at that moment when he first saw the Mind Breakers.

Harry knew that he was only still alive because of who he was, or rather who he was working for, and because of the over all goal.

For the first time in ages, Harry realised that he wasn't omnipotent, oh no, far from it. Sure he was dangerous, nearly untouchable even, but that's where the fault lay…'nearly'. Indeed, Harry realised with a pang that he could still be caught, defeated and punished, if not killed, like anybody else. It was an important lesson well learned. Silently he thanked everybody above for his close escape.

* * *

From that day onwards, Harry could basically do whatever he wanted… within reason. As long as he didn't overly break any school rules he was fine.

His teachers, while they did keep an eye on him whenever they saw him, could only do so much to keep him under control based on normal school rules and as long as they didn't see him knowingly break any school rules or as long as he didn't kill someone, their hands were practically tied.

Harry knew this and was going to use it to his full advantage, but even so, with his Ministry immunity, he could only go so far, so he always stayed within school rules for as long as possible. This didn't, however, stop a certain professor called Thornton from threatening him at every moment, or giving him a detention whenever she legally could.

Harry had slowly become a living terror for the staff and certain Slytherins. For most of the student population, however, especially the Dragons, Harry was a living hero, deity even.

Rumours (not facts) about his legendary confrontation with the Ministry officials swept though the school, like a bonfire through a hay barn. Nobody ever knew how the rumours started.

In fact, already by the next hour, everybody seemed to know about what had happened, and by the end of the day, everybody was looking at Harry with total and complete awe.

The Slytherins looked at him in fear, while Thornton settled for royal disgust and continued to cause trouble for Harry whenever she could.

Harry took it casually at first, but when a certain rumour came up that he had single handedly fought and squashed about twenty Ministry officials and the headmaster himself with a magical hand and had then danced around them naked, singing the national anthem at the same time, he quickly put his foot down on the matter.

The consequences were such that on the next day the two unfortunate individuals who had spread the rumour found themselves hanging from the ceiling of the Great Hall during breakfast, doing just what they had rumoured… namely singing the national anthem, naked.

For once, Dumbledore, while horrified (like the rest of the staff), turned a blind eye… not that he was happy with it, oh no, on the contrary, he was furious…the fact that he didn't even know what had really happened only made everything worse, but at least the rumours of the disastrous meeting in his office had all but ceased after the occasion and for that alone he was thankful.

It had been a costly mistake indeed. Life couldn't have been any better for Harry… right? Well, his life may have been very easy from that day onwards. Granted, respect was high, most of his peers loved him, some even worshiped him, but he still wasn't satisfied.

Harry knew his time was running out. The fact remained that slowly, but surely, his time was running out and he needed to dispose of some vermin before it did.

* * *

**_Two days later, # Room of Requirement._**

Four days since his initiation into the Marauder sect, Harry was once again sitting in his fancily cushioned armchair watching his, now, fellow Marauders, brewing a few potions and practicing a few spells which they would need for their pranks in a few days' time.

James may still have been the leader, but nothing could hide the fact that it wasn't he, but Harry whom everybody was taking orders from.

Everyone wanted everything to be perfect, so they had all agreed to put in as much practice into the spell work and to put as much perfection into their potions as possible. (Harry didn't have to, as it was clear he was already perfect anyway and so he spent his time helping his fellow members instead.)

In fact over the past two days it had become so bad, that the general motto of the group had changed from: 'Prank and let them be pranked,' to 'Prank them…Fail and don't bother coming back as we will kill you if you do,' until it finally just said: 'Prank 'em silly! If you fail, go to Hell.'

Its meaning was all too clear… failure was NOT an option. (Nobody needed to know that that could indeed literally happen (go to Hell) if Harry wished it so.)

As a result, nerves were very high and the Marauders didn't even want to dream that they could somehow mess up this, 'once in a lifetime opportunity.'

The thought of failure was just too unbearable for some, like James and Sirius, to accept, and Harry was fairly sure that they would indeed go as far as to drown themselves if it went wrong.

This went above Quidditch (which was saying something)… the honour of the Marauders was at stake.

**Flashback**

Two nights before, Harry had quickly learned what it really meant to be a Marauder. The Marauders all thought of themselves as one big happy family and they took their jobs in the family very serious indeed. Maybe even too seriously at times.

Each would stand up or cover for the other, help the other out when in need or even take the other person's blame if all else failed (If that were to lessen the punishment).

"We stand together, we run together, we hide together, we take the other's blame, hell, we even hold each other's parts if we have to…but… I'll tell you now…If you or any of us, betrays the other… I can guarantee you, you will never be the same again after we have finished with you."

Those were James exact words on their first official meeting with Harry as a Marauder on Harry's initiation feast, and Harry had never felt more accepted before then at that moment in his entire life, though he had to admit, some of the things they said they would do for each other had somewhat disturbed him.

Here were people whom he felt he could trust, no matter what the problem was. Here were people whom he would be willing to die for…well…expect one perhaps.

He felt saddened that he was fated to break their trust soon, but it was all in the name of the greater good. Besides, according to the rules, it was only right to punish the offender…If the accused did it now or later it wasn't going to make much of a difference, not according to Harry at least. Well…it would make a difference for him.

He had seen what had happened, he had seen and felt the pain and despair in his godfather as one of their kind had betrayed them. He had a job to do and he would do it, no matter the cost. If he had to break the most sacred rule to do it, then so be it.

_It is all for the greater good_, he had reminded himself, not realising or caring just how similar to Dumbledore he sounded at that moment and that's why he had called them into the next meeting.

Harry's greatest moment that night had been when he was allowed to see the Marauder's Map… with a small addition:

It now said: Messers. Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, Doom, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map (Mark 2).

Harry wondered what Fred and George would say to that. He wondered if after the big prank whether he would be like a god to them. Hell, he probably would be that anyway. He smiled at the thought.

After his successful integration into this famous gang of mischievous pranksters and notorious troublemakers, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and now also Harry had all made the Room of Requirement into their official headquarters.

Since Harry and now the rest of the gang were the only ones who knew about the room, its secrets and, over all, what was most important, how to summon it, Harry and the others had no fear of being disturbed, caught, or otherwise found out while in a meeting… so far at least.

Even so, while the meeting was in progress, Harry had planned to lock the door and just to be sure he had also placed a Fidelius Charm around the room too, with himself as the Marauders' Secret Keeper.

He wasn't going to trust anybody.

Harry was a little surprised when none of the original Marauders had complained that he, the new guy, was to have the honour of such an important position, though now after he had had some time to think about it, that was probably because only he could do or knew how to do the charm in the first place.

**End of Flashback**

Today was the Marauders' second, but first official meeting in their new room.

Harry, after hiding his portrait, had called together an official Marauders meeting for that evening, as he was anxious to get started on his mission to kill off certain students.

To do that he first needed to re-enforce the Marauder trust… and the best way to do that was do help them in what they did best…a prank…not just any prank…the best prank….the prank of all pranks…the prank which would make history... the prank which would bring Hogwarts to its knees (if only it had some).

Slowly Harry walked over to a line of potions which were happily bubbling in their respective cauldrons.

James was busy adding a few contents into a Befuddlement Potion which he was planning to use on Snape during the prank and he looked up when Harry approached him.

"Everything OK, Harry?" asked James

"Oh yes…everything's fine. Just checking up on my …special weapon," Harry answered merrily.

James just nodded in understanding. When it came to potions, he knew better than to interfere. Either way, it looked sadistically difficult to brew.

The special weapon was one of the potions which Harry had learned directly from the devil himself. It was the one potion which he thought had been humorous at the time. Satan called it the 'Rabidimemoria' potion. Harry, however, liked to call it the 'Bing, You're Stupid' potion. And for a good reason.

However, when questioned by the other Marauders, he had always strictly refused to give any hints on the matter.

"So Harry, are you going to tell us what this potion is or not?" asked James as he once again peered into the merrily bubbling cauldron of pure blood-red liquid. (It was Satan's favourite colour right before black.)

James really didn't like the look of that colour…it looked strange. It looked… forbidden… and dangerous... unholy in fact.

Harry, recognising the look on James's face, smiled.

"Don't worry, James…I promise it …er... won't poison or rather kill anybody… if that's what you're worried about," said Harry sweetly.

"At least not unless they do something extremely stu…er...suicidal," Harry added.

James didn't know whether to be reassured by that statement or not.

"Suicidal?"

"Well, you wouldn't jump off the castle walls, would you?" Harry asked.

Seeing the look of shock and horror on James's face, Harry quickly added: "Don't worry, I'm sure they won't be in any state to do something like that."

_At least they shouldn't be,_ he thought.

For a fleeting second Harry had second thoughts about what he was going to do, but quickly squashed the idea. Besides, he didn't have time to change his plans anymore…not now, the potion really wasn't that dangerous anyway…was it? In fact it seemed quite harmless…

_Yes it's harmless,_ Harry reassured himself.

"Come let us sing the Marauders' song," said Harry loudly, trying his best to lighten the atmosphere again.

Only yesterday he had created a remodeled version of the old famous witches' song while he had been simultaneously brewing about 6 different types of potions and the other Marauders had really loved it (after they had gotten over their awe). They had loved it so much in fact that they had immediately made it into their Marauders anthem.

"Oh yes… let's sing it again," cried James and Sirius happily. (James had immediately forgotten the prior conversation.)

It had been he and Sirius who had made up most of the 'interesting changes,' bar some of the names, which had been Harry's.

"Oh no, not again!" cried Remus with a groan, "…we only just sang it yesterday."

"It's getting so old," said Peter, but nevertheless they all joined in:

**[Doom **Bubble, bubble prepare for trouble;  
**[Padfoot **Fire burn, and the leaky cauldron bubble. Woof woof  
**[Prongs **We'll be the greatest pranksters of all time.  
**[Moony** Creators of our grand design.

**[Prongs **I'll be the King,  
**[Doom** I'll be the mind,  
**[Sirius** I'll be his lapdog …  
**[Moony** The Joker.  
**[Wormtail **And helper in crime.

**[Doom** Prepare for trouble,  
**[Prongs **And make it Quintrouble.

**[Sirius** To prepare old Hogwarts for Devastation,  
**[Moony **To unite all pranksters within our nation,  
**[Wormtail **To announce the joys of chaos and dust,  
**[All **To claim our seats in the stars above.

**[Prongs** All hail Prongs,  
**[Moony **All hail Moony,  
**[Padfoot **All hail Padfoot ,  
**[Doom(cheekily)** Who's quite the loony.  
**[Padfoot** Hey!  
**[Wormtail (laughing)** All hail Wormtail,  
**[Doom **And all Hail Doom.**  
[All **All hail the Marauders… Beware the boom and gloom of doom.

**[All **Marauders blast Hogwarts into the night,  
**[All** Surrender now, or prepare for your flight.

**[Prongs** One Eye from Snape,  
**[Wormtail **Two toes from Thorn,  
**[Prongs **_Three hairs from Mini,  
_**[Moony **_Fours a c...h…arm!!!,_ (Remus yawed.)

**[Doom **_Five_ fillets from old Sally's snake in the cauldron to foul and leak.  
**[Padfoot **Six tongues from Blake, Seven teeth from hate, woof! woof!  
**[Moony **Eights drops of drool from Bella, and nine songs from Fate. Stop barking, Paddy!  
**[Prongs **Ten devil forks supreme, and eleven blind mans strings. Yes, stop it, Padfoot, you're ruining the song!  
**[Wormtail **Dumby's leg, and his phoenix's wing.

_Now louder_**)  
[Doom **_F_or a charm of powerful trouble,  
**[Padfoot **Let hells-broth boil and bubble. ))_Whine((_  
**[Moony **_(he groans and roles his eyes)_A Potion, the form of almighty trouble,  
**[Prongs **Hell hath no Fury as a Hogwarts... with five times the trouble.

**[Doom and Prongs **Oh Hogwarts, your world will tremble and grin,  
**[Moony and Wormtail **Oh Hogwarts, the Marauders are all ready to begin.  
**[All** We're the Marauders, the prankster of all time. We're walking trouble, trouble sublime.

**[Prongs **We're the Marauders so brilliant, it's frighteningly true,  
**[Padfoot **Big trouble follows us whatever we go.

**[Doom and Padfoot** Bubble, bubble toil and trouble;  
**[All **Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

**[Padfoot **Innocence's a sin, your future looks quite dim,  
**[All **Enjoy your last free moments for the Marauders shall win.

"And damn right too," finished Sirius, who was still glaring at Harry for calling him loony, while the rest laughed and cheered.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Moony, who walked up beside Harry.

"It better!" said Sirius

"It will," said Harry, and with that everybody went back to work.

* * *

**Night time (5 minutes before 12, midnight) before the Big Prank# Dragon Common room**

"Are you ready, lads?" whispered Harry who was the last to appear into the Dragon common room.

He was speaking quietly so as not to wake up the rest of the dormitory.

"We have been waiting here for nearly thirty minutes, mate," said Sirius, who had been the first one down and seemed both annoyed and very impatient that he had had to wait for the past hour for his fellow pranksters to get ready.

For tonight was the big night before the big day. Tonight the Marauders were going to prepare the school for magnificent Marauder mayhem, manipulations, murders and misery.

Harry had given everybody a special potion which would keep everybody awake and fully energised for the full night and next day. He knew they were going to need it as none of them would be getting much sleep, if any, that night.

"Ok….everybody…you all know what to do… I dare say we have gone over this enough times to last, at least me, for a lifetime if not two, and I won't be answering any more questions…

"SO!…any questions?" asked Harry.

Everybody smiled but nobody answered.

"No...seriously, lads…we want to do this right…any questions?" asked Harry again.

"One, Harry," said Remus, who was always the careful one and the most worried of the group when they were about to prank or otherwise break school rules.

Harry nodded, giving Remus his full attention.

"What do we do if we are caught… as unlikely as it may be… but there is always the chance," said Remus, who still wasn't completely satisfied with their safety precautions.

"I concede that there is always a chance that that might happen, even with all of our precautions," said Harry.

The night before Harry had made numerous deals with certain individuals and set up numerous diversions throughout the whole school (should they be needed) as well as charming everybody in the group to be invisible. (He would activate the charm when they left the common room).

He also put Silencing Charms on their feet so that they couldn't be heard. The Marauders even agreed to only speak using their telepathy if they needed to talk. They all knew that they would be out for the whole night and would probably meet a lot of professors doing their night shift patrols of the corridors, at least for the first few hours. Later on it would become a little easier as even professors needed to sleep.

Even so, there would always be at least one or two professors looking for late night sleep walkers or other lost students and of course there was always Mr. Filch, who seemed to need less sleep than everybody else and preferred to sleep during the day for a few hours when the students were all in class (and less likely to cause trouble).

Well, he wouldn't be getting much sleep the next day.

"If it happens …well, it really shouldn't, but if it does, we will just have to find a way to deal with it when it does…" he said, hoping that it wouldn't.

"Remember, lads…if anything should happen…you're most likely going to be on your own… take the blame like a true innocent Marauder…if there is such a thing… don't jeopardise the mission… if we figure out a way to help you, we'll do it… but don't count on it."

"Understood?" Harry asked.

Everybody nodded.

Nodding to James, who still had the last word and overall command, Harry started to walk towards the dorm exit.

"OK everybody, you heard the Count of Doom… let's do our jobs… I know this is a huge thing to do all in one night but if we stick to it we can surely make it."

"We have practiced long enough for this… Sirius you take the east wing, I'll take care of the west. Remus, you're doing the library and dungeons…" said James.

"Why me?...Why do I get to do the library?" asked Remus, horrified.

It was common knowledge that he loved the library and was known as the Marauder bookworm.

"You're the one who knows it the best, Moony… heavens forbid… most of us don't really know how it looks like from the inside," joked James, which received a deep growl from Remus and a laugh from the others.

He clearly wasn't happy about this, but kept quiet from then on.

"Pete…You're doing the north tower... and courtyards," James said to Peter.

"Doom…you're the only one who can do this so… you're doing the Great Hall and you're going to watch our backs…just in case… Ok?" asked James.

"Sure thing, boss," said Harry.

It had been planned that he would help wherever he could and otherwise take over the Great Hall and watch everybody's backs in case something was to go wrong.

The Marauders also knew that the Great Hall was the meeting place for the night staff, so it would also be the most dangerous job to do.

Unknown to the rest, Harry was also planning to take care of the common rooms and the Headmaster's office. He was the only one whom he would trust to take care of such a dangerous task and to be truthful, he wasn't sure if even he could complete it himself.

"Oh, and Harry, if you think you can't do something…you don't have to," James added.

Harry just nodded and smiled. "Sure thing, boss," he lied.

"Ok everybody, let's go!" ...and a second later all had left.

* * *

**James POV (point of view)**

James was walking towards the west area of the castle and walked into a nearby classroom. It felt really weird to be out without his trusty Invisibility Cloak… he felt so naked without it, but he trusted Harry that he knew his charm work.

Harry… or rather Count Doom… had reassured him that nobody would be able to see him, except perhaps Dumbledore himself, who seemed to be able to see through such things.

James had been surprised when he had heard that, as he remembered running into him a few times when he was out a few times late at night. The headmaster, however, either had never seen him or had always chosen not to.

James always wondered whether Dumbledore supported all of their pranks and just chose to ignore them as long as their pranks weren't 'too' dangerous. He always did seem to enjoy the resulting action every morning. Either way, he was going to be extra careful this night… there was just too much at stake to be careless now.

Keeping his eyes open for a member of the night patrol, James cast another spell, this time on a huge portrait which was sleeping, snoring so loudly that it made a nearby armour stand rattle.

For a few minutes James let his mind drift and let himself think about their new…and highly valuable member. For a minute he recounted just what he knew of Harry. Harry Granger, the Lord of Dragonheart, Count Doom, had come as a great surprise, he thought to himself, in more than just one way.

Thinking back, James remembered the first time he had seen him back in Diagon Alley. At first he had thought he was looking at a direct copy of himself.

It could have been, for all he knew, if only there were not a few small differences, most prominent of which were his green eyes…they looked like Lily's eyes…oh how much he wished Lily would accept him…how he wished that Harry somehow were his son and Lily his wife…but that was not to be.

Somehow James had this icy feeling that Lily was never going to marry him… ever. That somebody would take her away…or that something might happen to her, before he could convince her. Just thinking about it… that she would never like him, that they would never be together, made his heart ache.

_NO,_ he screamed to himself mentally, I _will not let it happen_, he vowed to himself.

_There has to be a way to convince her_, he thought as he cast another spell, this time on the corridor leading towards the Transfiguration classroom, prepping the floor for the big day tomorrow.

_She seems to really like, maybe even adore Harry, maybe I can convince him to help me…_ he wondered… _maybe he can help me win her over…_ after all he did seem interested and very supportive of the idea that the two of them got together.

Too bad that Lily was so stubborn.

_What does he have which I don't have…what is he doing that I'm not?_ he asked himself. _She always seems to be willing to speak with him and help him… what's different with me, everybody loves me, right?...well except Snivellus, perhaps,_ he pondered…_Hell, he even looks the same as me… almost… except that big scar, and those green eyes…Lily's_ _eyes_.

James sighed again.

It was a deep sigh of immense longing

Yes…the next day he would ask him… _Maybe, just_ _maybe, I'm missing something,_ he thought as he started to walk to the next classroom to bewitch the blackboards to write swear words during class.

* * *

**Sirius's POV**

Meanwhile at the other end of the school, Sirius was similarly wondering about their new member.

_I can't believe how much has changed since Harry joined us_, he mused._Before him we would never have even thought of doing this prank, but now with him, everything seems to be possible._

Sirius still marveled at the fact that Harry had single-handedly defeated Dumbledore and a handful of Aurors, if the rumours were true. Sirius had of course questioned Harry on that issue, but Harry hadn't spoken much about it. What was so special about Harry? Why was he always so secretive?

Harry Granger… that boy had more secrets than the whole school combined and it annoyed Sirius greatly that he wasn't about to find out what they were. Sirius prided himself on being able to unravel secrets, but Harry had so far always defeated him at every turn.

Harry greatly mystified him. He had more guts and skill than anybody he knew and he had this rare ability to always find a way to solve a problem and to command total obedience from everybody... well except Professor Thornton perhaps, who seemed to hate him, but then whom didn't she hate, besides the slimy Slytherins.

Hell, Sirius had noticed that the Slytherins all seemed to fear him. He had noticed a few of them become chalk white when he approached them in a corridor.

_What did he do to them?_ he wondered.

Sirius had been in the nearby carriage on the trip to Hogwarts. He had heard the commotion which had come from compartment five, where the Slytherins had been. Whatever he did to them must have been very effective, as Sirius had never seen the Slytherins so frightened before.

Even in class, with Thornton of all people, they didn't do anything to annoy him, and that was saying something. Normally they wouldn't loose out on a chance to 'pick on' a Gryffindor…but with him there…Sirius left the rest unthought-of.

Shaking his head, Sirius continued to wipe a special potion on to a door nearby and watched, mesmerised, as it disappear into the wood. For the umpteenth time he wondered what that stuff was and what it would do.

Well, he would find out tomorrow as Harry had never told him what it would do. Again he let his mind drift to that other potion Harry had been brewing in the Room of Requirement. What did he call that potion again… the 'Bing, you're stupid potion'?

_I wonder if it has anything to do with that potion which he said he knew which would have made most of the spells in the prank book he had read in Flourish and Blotts look like child's play. _

What had he called him again, an amateur? Even now the words sounded horrible.

_That potion really must be something if what he said is true._

Sirius was so happy that he never had the bright idea to prank the boy.

The results would have been…overwhelming, at the least.

Sirius was so caught up in his thoughts and in his excitement that he never noticed Filch walk his way.

He seemed to have that same frown on his face which always suggested that he sensed someone nearby… someone who really shouldn't be nearby.

_Oh no, not him_, thought Sirius, suddenly alarmed, but remembered that he was invisible.

Still, this was not what he needed.

_Damn, got to move_, he thought.

Opening up his connection to the other Marauders, he started to speak to them.

_Red alert, everybody_, he said. He was very annoyed.

James heard him and quickly spoke back:

_What's wrong, did someone see you… are you caught?_ he asked, even though that wasn't really possible unless it was Dumbledore.

_Filch just joined the party, and no, I think everything's still OK. _

_I see_ ….James said then decided to speak to everybody:

_Heads up, everybody, Sirius has just encountered Filch, be prepared for some company_, he warned.

_Do you need help, Sirius_? Harry asked from his place in the Great Hall.

_Negative…no…wait…yes…I… maybe_, said Sirius suddenly.

_Sirius?_ asked James calmly.

But Sirius didn't answer: he was occupied.

None other than Thornton had just come around the corner and was hurrying towards him.

_Sirius?_ asked James again, still calmly.

Quickly Sirius pressed himself into a gap in a wall nearby and sucked in his breath.

It was going to be a tight fit.

"Ah, Anna," said Filch as he saw her.

He was using the last part of her first name.

"Mr. Filch, how nice to see you," she said pleasantly as they stopped right beside where Sirius had pressed himself into the wall. Adrianna Thornton preferred to use Filch's surname.

"I was j…what's wrong…is someone out?" she asked, noticing the way Filch looked whenever he was hunting some prey, or in his case, students who were out after curfew.

"I…just sensed…"

"Yes?" asked Thornton eagerly.

Sirius's heart beat rose significantly as he heard this.

_Sirius?_ came James voice again.

It was still calm, though it was beginning to show signs of strain.

"Kitty?...hang on …I'm coming," Filch said suddenly.

"Come Anna, I think someone is… Kitty just informed me that she thinks one of those brats is out on another night stroll. Would you be so kind as to help me find them?" he asked.

"It would be a pleasure," Thornton answered, a vicious grin appearing all over her face.

"Perhaps it's Potter and his pesky little friends...or better still Granger," she added as both began to walk past Sirius's location.

As soon as they had passed, Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. _That was too close for comfort, _he thought.

_Sirius_! came James's voice, and this time Sirius answered:

_It's ok… they just left. Everything's alright…I think_, he said to the other Marauders, using his mind link again.

_Ah good…_ came James's relieved voice from the other end of the link

_Not good_, said Sirius. _He knows we are out for the night, our jobs have just become a tad more difficult_, Sirius answered.

_Acknowledged_, James answered…_You hear that everybody?_ he said.

_Hear what?_ asked Harry.

_We might be about to get some company… Filch knows we are out…_

_Ah, so that's why everybody left the Great Hall a few minutes ago… thanks… I needed that_, said Harry. _It just made my job a hell of a lot easier,_ he added.

_Oh no!_ came Peter's voice suddenly through the connection.

_Everything OK, Pete_? asked Remus, who took this moment to speak, having just pranked another book to fly away from anybody who wished to read it.

_No…well…yes it's ok, F and T have just entered my area, but they walked right past_, said Peter, who sounded relieved.

_Calm down, Peter_, said James, _remember you're inv…_

_Oh damn…_ came Peters' voice. _Here they come back…and now they have M with them too…_

_I…I can't get past them… they are taking up too much room… they'll bump in to me_, he said suddenly, panic in his voice.

_It's alright, Peter…stay calm, just find a dent in a wall somewhere…step into a classroom_, Remus said from his side of the link.

A few tense moments later, Peter's voice came back through the link…_It's ok… I transformed into my rat form… they passed me._

_What!…you fool…I told you not to…that cancels the Invisibility Charm, you idiot, _Harry nearly screamed.

_Oh shit… sorry, I forgot_, said Peter, who was suddenly panicking.

_Peter…listen to me…get to the common room…I'm coming_, Harry answered coldly.

_Right,_ said Peter.

Harry sighed… _Carry on, lads, we'll be back once I put the charm back on that dunderhead,_ he said, using Snape's favourite word.

_HELP!_

_What now?_ Harry asked, annoyed. It was Peter again.

_K...K…K...K…Ki…_

_Peter…calm down…wh.._

_IT'S KITTY,_ came Peter's frightened voice.

_Oh!_

Kitty was Filch's cat, and like all of Mr. Filch's cats, she was the bane of every student.

The Marauders hated her. (As did most of the students in the school, especially those whose greatest ambition was to give her a kick, if only they could get away with it.) She always seemed to be around when they were out of their dorm in the middle of the night and would nearly always run off to report to her master. Sometimes she didn't even have to, he just knew.

_Do you…er… need help?_ Harry asked.

_YES!!!_ came Peter's terrified voice.

_Stay calm, Peter_, came James voice…Just transform back into your…

_YOU TRY TO STAY CA… Damn…here comes Filch again…HELP_!

_Peter, RUN!!_ shouted Remus from his place in the library.

_I...I…ca…ca...can't,_ Peter stuttered.

_Peter…get moving, don't be such as wimp…just …_

_HELP_!

_PETER! Come on, get a…_

_IT'S KITTY…SHE'S AFTER ME!!!_…came Peter's terrified voice.

_Oh!...SHIT!…hang on…I'm coming…,_ said Harry.

_Hang on, Pete, I'm coming too_, James said through the link.

Harry groaned… _No, James…it's too dangerous, you'll all get caught,_ Harry nearly screamed out, but James didn't answer.

_Shit_, Harry swore again as he teleported away. It only took a second for Harry to arrive into the middle of a battlefield.

Peter, in his rat form and screaming in his high pitched squeaky rat voice was scurrying along the ground at an amazing pace, Kitty hot after his tail. Without thinking, Harry gave Kitty a kick and sent her flying.

Unfortunately he managed to kick Peter too, making him release a loud squeal as his shoe grazed him.

Just a few seconds later Filch came around the corner. A second earlier and he would have seen his cat hit and knock her head off a nearby wall. As it was he didn't. Seeing that his cat was hurt, he rushed over to her.

"What happened, who did this to you… I'll skin them alive," he roared furiously, looking around the corridor for the guilty person.

That guilty person, however, was nowhere in sight anymore. Harry had taken the sudden lapse of concentration from Filch and had grabbed Peter (the rat) and had teleported away with him. Immediately Peter changed into his human form.

"What just happened?... how did you?...it's not possible to Appa…" Peter began to ask, still gasping in pain from Harry's brief kick.

"_Stupefy, obliviate!"_ Harry said, Stunning Peter and wiping his knowledge of the fact that he had just teleported into the common room.

Harry sighed with relief… then he remembered that James was still out there looking for Peter. He quickly opened his mind connection to reassure him when…he paused….and got a terrible grin on his face. His eyes turned red then death black and he let out a sudden mad giggle.

This was the moment he had been waiting for…of course…he could kill Peter right now…and no one would know…he could blame it on the cat instead.

Wondering why he hadn't thought of this before, he grabbed Peter and using a spell, he turned him back into his rat form.

With another flash they were gone.

* * *

**Meanwhile with James **

James was hurrying down the corridor, with sweat all over his face. He had to get to Peter…he had to get there now. He was just about to enter the Charms corridor when he saw Filch running past him. He looked extremely angry and was red in the face.

Not taking a moment to wonder what had happened, James continued to run along the corridor in the opposite direction…ran around a corner and bumped right into none other than Professor McGonagall, knocking her over.

"Ouch," she said as she fell to the ground heavily as did he.

McGonagall had managed to grab him as they fell.

Horrified, James froze… he didn't know what to do.

McGonagall, who had immediately realised what had just happened, pulled her wand out and a second later James appeared right in front of her, Invisibility Charm removed.

"James …I knew it would be one of you," she said. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE…ANSWER QUICKLY," she screamed. She was absolutely furious.

James was shocked; he wasn't even able to open his mouth. He had never seen McGonagall so furious before.

"IF YOU DON'T ANSWER ME NOW…OH HELP ME… I .…I …You're Head Boy…JAMES…how could you," she ranted, red in the face.

_I'm dead,_ James thought miserably. All he could do was stare at the ground. He didn't know what to do. He had never seen his Head of House so mad before.

"MY OFFICE, NOW!!!" McGonagall screamed.

"No… please… I'll explain," James pleaded... he was in so much trouble.

James was so horrified that he just stood there. Seeing that he wasn't about to move, McGonagall grabbed him and started to pull him around the hall.

"Please, Professor…I…"

"Spare it," she said fiercely as they neared her room.

A quick password later and they entered it. McGonagall practically hurled James along with her and James fell to the ground.

"Right… What were you doing out of the dorms… at three AM I may add … five hours after curfew…JAMES… you're Head Boy… you know better than to… explain yourself," she said coldly.

"I…I…" James couldn't bring himself to say anything…he didn't know what to say.

_James, tell her directly what I'm about to say_, came Harry's voice suddenly from the other side of their link.

At that moment he was standing in that very room watching the conversation, having left Peter, the rat, binded by a strong body lock spell, inside Filch's office in Kitty's food bowl.

It would be a nice present for her when she came back later that night. He was sure of it.

_What… I'm…oh…right… ok_! James said…he was too shocked to argue anyway.

_Tell her that you were out because you were looking for a few students which you heard were out after curfew._

_But!_

_DO IT! _

"I…I... was out looking for a few students which I heard were out …." James said, giving himself up to fate, and Harry's ability to get him out of trouble.

_I hope you know what you're doing, Harry_, he said back though the link.

Hearing this, McGonagall's expression softened slightly but she was still angry.

"At three in the morning?…who are they?" she asked.

_Tell her you heard a rumour that a few first years were planning a midnight duel… but you don't know who._

"Er...Well…. (James shrugged mentally) I heard a rumour that a few first years were out for a late night duel…and I wanted to catch them," he said, hoping that it might at least lessen his punishment.

He didn't have to fake a guilty or sad expression; he was both anyway.

"Mr. Potter, as Head Boy you should have come to me about this and not gone looking for them yourself," McGonagall cut in

_Apologise quickly,_ said Harry.

"I'm sorry…yes…I …should have…." James started to say.

"Yes, you should have…but you didn't," said McGonagall briskly; however, her expression seemed to be nearly back to normal.

Seeing James's downtrodden expression she sighed…She always did have a soft spot for the boy.

"Alright…since you were only trying to do your job… I'll let you off with a simple detention…Friday night…seven…don't be late.

"Now get straight into bed and get some sleep, I will not accept you being tired in class tomorrow," she said, finally smiling slightly yet still firmly as she saw the evident expression of relief on his shocked face.

It was much better than he could have hoped for.

Really relieved, James said, "Thank you, Professor," and left the room.

* * *

James spent the next hour looking worriedly for Peter but never found him. He tried calling him through their link, but that didn't work either and none of the others had seen him.

Harry of course denied that he had and told James that he was also still looking for him, when in fact at that same moment he was watching Mrs. Kitty eat him instead.

_One gone, two to go. My parents should now be safe_, he mused happily.

Two hours before morning, the whole Marauder gang minus Peter, who had 'somehow' disappeared, found themselves once again back in the common room. James had a worried look on his face as he had spent the rest of the night worrying about Peter while he took care of the rest of his pranks.

They had only just finished their last respective tasks and were looking forward to the morning when Harry, with a serious, solemn face, called them together to tell them the sad news.

A minute later all had downtrodden miserable expressions on their faces…and all were crying heavily (though for Harry it was more of an act).

Harry was the only one who wasn't crying like the rest, but the others hadn't really expected him to. After all, Harry hadn't known Peter as long as they had. Harry had broken the sad news of his death to them, saying that Kitty had killed him, a few minutes after James had come back.

As evidence he placed Peter's gruesome remains (complete with bite marks) on the table and watched emotionlessly as the rest of the Marauders threw up and broke down. The rest of the Marauders were so horrified that they just sat at the table and …bawled.

Harry, in his wisdom, had put up a Silencing Charm the moment they had entered the room, so he was sure none of the other dorm residents would notice. For the next few minutes he waited quietly for his father, godfather, and godwolf to recover.

A short while later they were still sitting around the table looking at each other blankly. There was nothing they could do. They couldn't tell what had happened. They didn't know how to.

James suddenly started shaking again… he was beginning to go into complete shock.

Seeing this, Harry quickly Stunned him.

"Sorry, lads…it's...better this way," he said weakly to them.

He too didn't know what to do to comfort them at this moment in time. Then he mentally slapped himself. _ICEY_, he called out mentally. With a flash the phoenix appeared and realising the situation, she began to sing.

Immediately everybody began to calm down. As proven many times before, the song of a phoenix had the power to calm and heal souls… it was no different this time.

After another few minutes, Sirius, who had recovered enough to speak, opened his mouth:

"So… er… what now?" he asked.

Remus shrugged; he was still too upset to talk.

Once again it was Harry who came up with an answer:

"As much as I hate to say this… well… there isn't anything we can do… we…"

"DAMN IT, HARRY…PETER…HE…HE DIED… HE'S DEAD…" Sirius roared. His voice broke and he started to cry again.

Icey continued to sing.

Harry waited for another few minutes then, when Sirius seemed to have calmed down, he tried again:

"I realise that that's the case… and… I'm very sorry… but… there isn't anything we can do," he said with a sad voice.

He hated to see his godfather crying like this.

It was Remus who spoke next.

"Someone will have to tell the Headmaster… someone will have to tell… OH BLOODY HELL… the pranks…. what are we going to do… they are going to go off in around two hours," Remus said as he realised it.

_Oh… yes… the pranks_, thought Harry_. Oh … That IS a problem_, he thought.

This was definitely not the right time for pranks… not anymore.

Remus had thrown his hands up into the air in disgust.

"This is not the time for pranks," he said, mirroring Harry's thoughts.

Harry grimaced.

"There is nothing we can do about it… they are going to go off in exactly one hour and 50 minutes," he said, for the first time not happy with the night's events.

_It's for the greater good… it can't be helped…,_ he reminded himself… even he was disgusted with this turn of events.

Harry sighed again… there was nothing for it… he would have to Obliviate them all and act as if nothing had happened until after the pranks… then he would tell them all again.

Oh, he would hate it… but it had to be done, Harry reminded himself.

He would alter their minds so that they would believe that Peter had gone home on sudden family business for the day and that he would miss the fun… he would make them believe that he had left during the night.

He hated what he had to do, but there was nothing else for it.

With a heavy heart and another sigh, he wandlessly Stunned the remaining two Marauders and with another flick he Obviliated their minds, altering their experiences as planned.

He never even bothered to take out his wand.

Then, shaking his head, he levitated them into the dorms where he put them to bed.

With a heavy feeling, not really looking forward to the day's pranks at that moment, he went back to the common room, sat down in his favourite chair, and began to wait.

Icey, who had been waiting, kept him company, reassuring him that it had to be done…that it was all part of the plan, for another hour then she too left him in peace.

It was a night to forget.

* * *


	11. Castle Of Chaos Part 1

Harry Potter, Life's A Prophecy

Chapter 11

Castle of Chaos

Part 1

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter, his friends and his world are all owned by J.K. Rowling

**Chapter Beta'd by:** RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

Thirty minutes before they were to go down to breakfast, Harry rose from his chair and ascended the dormitory staircase to wake up the remaining Marauders so that they could all go to breakfast together.

He didn't worry about the fact that they would most likely be the first to enter the hall, nor did he care that the professors would be suspicious of them even before the pranks started. They just didn't want to miss any of the fun. As far as the Marauders were concerned, this time, they would be found out no matter what happened.

In fact, for once all cards were going to be openly laid out, completely visible onto the table, for all to see. This time they wanted to be found out… How else were they going to go into history for the pranks, the pranks of all pranks, the prank which crippled Hogwarts and brought it to its knees, otherwise?

As for Harry, he too would go down into history, most likely as the one known as the 'Master of Chaos', the one who lead the Marauders in their devilish plans, though that remained to be seen. For now, at least, the dear professors didn't know that he had joined them… yet.

Sure, they would later on, but not until then…or at least not until after the first prank.

One thing Harry was sure of, no matter what was going to happen today: he could hardly wait to see Fred's and George's faces when he got back.

In waking up James he tried shaking him first, but it soon became clear that he needed extra help; Harry started to tickle his feet… with a feather, not just any old feather, but one which was charmed for extra discomfort and that extra little itch.

That got James's attention pretty quickly and a second later both dorm mates were wrestling across the dormitory floor.

The resulting racket soon woke up the rest and it didn't take long before they too joined into the fun, choosing sides with James when it became clear that it had been Harry's fault that they had all been woken up.

Harry decided to play along with everybody, using Strength Charms to give him that extra edge over his opponents, but he went easy on them and even let them win, which caused great cheers from the victors as until then Harry was supposedly unbeatable.

Harry knew they did not fully remember what happened last night and for that he was happy.

He knew that as far as they could remember, they had successfully completed their preparations during the night, without Peter, who, according to them, had left earlier during the last evening to go home for some unfortunate yet very urgent family business… a death.

Little did they know it was his death.

Rather unfortunate, indeed, but that was how it had been. If only that were true.

Harry was going to do his best to join into the fun today, which wouldn't really be that difficult seeing that he didn't really care that Peter had died anyway... merely for the fact that he had to kill him.

Now that Peter was out of the way, he was more than happy just to forget about him…no harm done. However, that was not to be…yet.

He had put Peter in his dead rat form into a safe place until everything was over, at which time he would retrieve him …and sadly ruin all the fun with the sad news that Peter had been 'accidentally' killed while in his rat form by Mrs. Kitty, the caretaker's pet kneazel cat… again.

The fact that Harry had certain evidence, which pointed his death towards the caretaker's cat, worked for him. Until then he would keep Peter's dead body, hidden, in a deep stasis so that his body wouldn't get older…or else it might become fishy…

After that all he could do was wait and hope.

After tonight the headmaster would know about the Marauders' Animagi forms...but…once again, Harry knew that too had to be done. His future…

no, everybody's future, depended on it.

It didn't take long and the remaining four Marauders left the Dragon dorm to go to the hall for breakfast. It was clear that they were very nervous with anticipation.

James warned them though to at least try to act normal: the last thing they wanted was for the headmaster to 'smell a rat' and call off breakfast, though Harry mused that the old coot would most likely turn a blind eye just to see the fun and amuse himself. Harry was sure that their esteemed headmaster was in reality a prankster at heart.

The real danger would therefore come from the other professors, like the stern McGonagall or most likely the trouble-loving Thornton (not the old coot with the grey beard, outrageous twinkle, and the dim-witted smile), who would just love to find something to take points away for … or worse.

Before leaving the dorms, Harry risked a look at the common room table and noticed that Peter's name had disappeared from the table. His label now read 'Lily Evans (HG)'

That was the last evidence Harry needed: Peter was finally truly dead and history had been irrecoverably changed.

Harry was amused to see that James was now sitting right beside her.

_Good, _Harry thought, pleased with the new seating arrangements_._

The closer James got to Lily the better the chances were that they would get together and that was directly what Harry wanted.

* * *

The Marauders entered the hall and immediately made their way directly to the Gryffindor table.

They noticed that they were not alone. Peeves was already present, hovering over the table eyeing them mysteriously.

Oddly enough he did not do anything when they sat down. Instead he gave them a grin and even passed Harry some toast before saluting him, military style.

Harry just thanked him with an identical salute of his own before giving him a nod and a smile before leaning back in his seat.

Then, taking a moment to look around the hall, he started to laugh.

The stares he and Peeves were receiving from the other Marauders and others who were already in the hall were absolutely priceless.

Everybody was gaping at Peeves. They didn't know what to think.

Peeves had never ever obeyed anybody before, except the Bloody Baron, or perhaps on occasion the headmaster, but even that was rare. That he would go as far as to salute someone…like an equal or above...

At the staff table the few early risers started to twitch nervously.

Harry though, knew why Peeves wasn't doing anything.

Harry knew that Peeves knew what the others, besides the other Marauders, didn't know, namely what the Marauders had been doing the whole night, and Peeves had solemnly promised not to tell anybody about it.

What for! It was common knowledge that Peeves loved chaos…and that was just what he was going to get for the whole day… complete and utter chaos.

That and the fact that Harry was using his powers as a founders heir and had specifically ordered Peeves not to do anything which could ruin everything, at least until the pranks had visually started had been enough to ensure complete obedience from the poltergeist.

The last few minutes before chaos ticked away, and the hall began to fill up.

The professors who were present tried to ignore a quiet Peeves, which was indeed a strange sight as he would usually have been ejected out of the hall by now for starting a food fight or something similar.

There were after all reasons why he wasn't usually allowed into the hall.

A quiet Peeves was just plain wrong.

This morning, however, he seemed to be oddly complacent. That alone spelled trouble, major trouble.

Because of him everybody seemed to be jerky that morning. It seemed clear that something was about to happen…they weren't to be disappointed… as it did:

With what felt like a massive earthquake Hogwarts began to shake, a huge bang sounded and with a blinding blast of light, the hall lit up.

Many students were beginning to panic as a table overturned, then just as suddenly multiple professors, who had been becoming increasingly white-faced, groaned out in complete misery as they realised what was happening. At the same time, Peeves had started to cackle in delight.

Just as suddenly as the flash had come and gone, words began to glow and appear in the air:

**The Marauders are proud to present:**

**DOOMS DAY…the day Hogwarts got Pranked!!**

**For the rest of the day enjoy our vast array of pranks…**

**Don't bother fighting them, resistance is futile…trust us, we know.**

**There are just too many of them anyway, it's sure to become the grandest show.**

**Today we are going to have ourselves a real good time. **

**Today Hogwarts will feel alive.**

**As we are going to turn Hogwarts inside out and float around in complete ecstasy.**

**Today we will defy the rules of gravity,**

**And introduce the laws of insanity, **

**Prepare to be PRANKED!!... **

**There is no stopping us, so just sit back and enjoy yourselves.**

**If that's even possible we leave up to you.**

**Hell sends its regards! **

**Now let's make it so!!**

**Yours mischievously,**

**The Marauders:**

**Prongs**

**Padfoot woof woof**

**Moony**

**Wormtail**

**And**

**DOOM!!**

"Who is Doom," asked most of the hall, some looking at the known Marauders in complete fear as music started to play from all four corners of the hall.

At the Slytherin table, its members were petrified in anticipation and fear. Must notable amongst them was a greasy haired student named Severus Snape, who had his face buried in his hands. His skin and hair was constantly changing from one colour to the next in a vast array of different colours.

…then with a series of pops, bangs, chimes, and a colourful display of flashes the rest of the pranks activated:

A new message appeared in the air:

**The Pranks are now armed...enjoy!**

That this was no normal prank became clear at once. A second later, one by one, the hall burst out into full scale panic as the 'Twelve Days of Christmas My True Love Sent To Me' song started to play.

**On the first day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
A partridge in a pear tree.**

With a cry of alarm, Snape slowly started to change form and morph into a human pear tree, complete with fresh ripe (though un-edible and hard) pears, a partridge nesting on his head, and a branch sticking out of his nose which twirled around to poke him in one of his wooden eyes, right in front of everybody else's, which caused the rest of the Slytherins in the hall to completely freak out as some started to knock over more tables and chairs in complete panic.

Food started to roll across the floor as they all tried to head towards the Great Hall doors to get out, stumbling and sliding on the food along the way.

However, before they could reach the doors they closed with a bang and wouldn't open anymore.

James looked at Harry and quietly gave him a look which clearly asked him what had just happened.

Harry just whispered that he had used a very advanced spell and that the doors would not open for anybody until after the prank.

In reality though, Harry was using his powers as the heir of Gryffindor to order the castle to keep the doors locked. Only the headmaster had even the slightest chance to open it now and he stayed quiet, sitting in his chair.

With nearly everybody in the hall, there were more than enough people around to enjoy the pranks.

**On the second day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.  
**

Again two more Slytherins started to change, this time into two turtle doves.

Some of the pro-Slytherin professors were at this point racing towards the transformed Slytherins and trying to transform them back, but with little effect. Not the headmaster though, he stayed quiet and continued to watch the show.

No matter what spells they tried, nothing seemed to work against Harry's own completely advanced, out-of-this-world spellwork.

**On the third day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

Again a few students, this time from Ravenclaw, started to transform, noticeably into three French hens.

When it became evident that nobody seemed to be safe, the rest of the students in the hall started to panic and tried to rush to the hall doors only to find that they too couldn't open them.

Only the Gryffindors stayed half way quiet.

They had learned a long time ago that when the Marauders wanted to prank somebody they got their wish, and running away didn't help at all.

Some of the Gryffindor Muggle-borns who knew of the song even tried to relax and enjoy the show as two of the French hens had even started to squawk in French.

« Mon Dieu » ! Vous regarder... vous êtes une poule

Que ! Oh... cela est vrai

Oh bien... Cela est la vie

Gryffindors sanglants

Maraudeurs sanglants

Les aussi !

Les directeurs une tête de dick

Oui oui cela aussi

Despite their efforts, it was clear they too were very nervous. It would be a gamble when they would transform …and then into what.

**On the fourth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

This time it was some of the Hufflepuffs who changed. From different areas of the room four of them turned into four calling birds. It really seemed to be completely random who from each table turned when it reached your house.

Dumbledore shrugged and took the moment to conjure himself some popcorn, which he started to eat.

Everybody looked at him in complete surprise and some in dismay as Dumbledore waved his wand and popcorn started to appear at the house tables too.

"What? ...I might as well enjoy it if I can't stop it," he said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The rest of the professors just stared at him. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Dumbledore just shrugged once more as if he didn't have a care in the world, he just continued to sit back and started to eat.

**On the fifth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

Five pre-chosen Gryffindor girls changed into five marked golden rings, with miniature noses and mouths (so that they could still breathe) and with huge grins on their faces the four remaining Marauders each took one and placed them on their fingers.

One was supposed to have been for Peter, but as he wasn't there anymore to claim it Sirius gladly took that one too.

He was hoping for some fun that night. Double the luck, double the fun. With a loud voice Sirius cheekily exclaimed that they would be claiming these girls as his own for the day.

This only made some of the girls break out into even more panic, while others stared at the rings with jealousy. It was clear some of them would have preferred this transformation over another…at least they got to be with three of the most heavily sought Gryffindors…no…male students of the school. Harry was by far the first, Sirius came in second, while James had the third place.

Even though Harry had tried to stop him, James had claimed Lily as his own. He had been keeping an eye on her before she transformed. They would have to deal with her wrath later on.

With a big grin on his face James leaned in to kiss the ring...only to jerk back a second later.

"She bit me!" he exclaimed.

"She likes you," said Sirius.

"That too," James agreed.

**On the sixth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

When everybody heard this, the six girls who were randomly chosen to transform in the hall (this time it was completely random), cried out in horror as they transformed to find themselves laying one egg each. (Harry had taken the song literally.)

Seeing this, Minerva McGonagall gaped while quite a few students gasped in horror. She thought she knew her subject, transfiguration, but this made her open her eyes and squawk…er…gawk in complete surprise.

_How can …how is it…possible…they layed eggs_! she thought, completely mesmerized as it happened.

"What extraordinary transfiguration," she whispered, totally shocked.

She still couldn't fully believe it. This was beyond anything she could even do, and she held a master-ship in the subject.

**On the seventh day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Seven swans a-swimming,  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

A pond appeared in a free area of the hall as seven more students transformed into seven swans. With an invisible force they were pushed inside.

James, Sirius, and Remus looked at Harry and gaped once more. "How the hell did you?" Remus asked. The rest didn't find the strength to say anything at all. The more they saw, the more surprised and in awe of Harry's spell work they became.

Minerva, still shaking from the previous transformation simply sat down and conjured herself a brandy.

Harry just raised his eyebrows and smiled. With his right hand he reached out to take some more popcorn.

He knew he was laying it on a bit thick...but at that moment he just didn't care.

**On the eighth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Eight maids a-milking,  
Seven swans a-swimming,  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

Some of the Muggle-borns who knew of the song had been waiting for this part and became very nervous as the next verse sounded out across the hall.

As soon as they heard the last few words, eight Slytherin girls turned into maids.

At first the Gryffindors seemed unhappy that they were left off easy and most of the transformed Slytherins breathed thankful sighs of relief that it wasn't any worse, all facts considered, but then the unthinkable happened: Harry grinned viciously as eight more Slytherins turned into cows to complement the milking maidens. They were then forced, in complete humiliation, to start milking these cows with what looked like the Imperious Curse.

However, Harry didn't use the Unforgivable; instead he had chosen to use one of his unknown Grey magic curses. One which he was sure would be joining that list after tonight.

Once more pandemonium reigned through the hall as horrified students once again attempted to find a way out of the hall, this time by force.

Most of the Professors who had already resigned themselves to the inevitable also jumped up and looked across the hall at the Marauders, wands raised.

James, Sirius, and Remus looked at Harry and gave him horrified looks.

Had he gone too far?

Harry, however, just smiled back, held up his wand and swore an Unbreakable Oath:

"I swear on my life and magic that contrary to what you may think, that was not the Imperious Curse nor in fact any Dark magic."

Harry had never been happier that it had in fact been Grey magic instead…the border line between Light and Dark.

Hearing this, the professors put away their wands again, but they continued to send accusing glances towards the Marauders.

Dumbledore was watching the show with twinkling eyes. He had conjured himself a cocktail to complement the pop corn and was giddily watching the show. It was clear he was really enjoying himself. The rest of the professors continued to stare at him in horror.

**On the ninth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Nine ladies dancing,  
Eight maids a-milking,  
Seven swans a-swimming,  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

The robes of nine of the prettiest Ravenclaw girls changed and transformed into nine strippers outfits, much to their complete horror, though everybody soon noticed that there were multiple censorship charms all over them and so they became the nine dancing ladies.

"Awww! Did you have to censor them?" asked Sirius suddenly out loud and immediately wished he hadn't, as Professor McGonagall quickly screamed: "Thirty poi…er….three weeks detention on top of your other punishments for these pranks."

Sirius winced and even had the decency to apologise when most of the females in the hall glared at him for his comment.

Harry, however, had received a few glances of gratitude.

**On the tenth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Ten lords a-leaping,  
Nine ladies dancing,  
Eight maids a-milking,  
Seven swans a-swimming,  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

With a flash ten Huffepuff boys started to grow and transform into ten leaping lords.

For some reason they couldn't stop leaping around the hall and kept throwing annoyed glances towards the Marauders, who all took the moment to wave back.

Harry clapped his hands and the nine dancing Ravenclaw strippers began to dance with the ten leaping lords. It really was a funny sight to behold.

Seeing this, the hall burst out into laughter.

The professors tried to keep straight faces but failed.

Filius Flitwick, the Charms professor, even fell off his stool with a high pitched squeak and was merrily laughing on the ground.

**On the eleventh day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Eleven pipers piping,  
Ten lords a-leaping,  
Nine ladies dancing,  
Eight maids a-milking,  
Seven swans a-swimming,  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree.**

Knowing that they were next, the Gryffindor table braced themselves.

Everybody held their breath as eleven more students turned into eleven pipers.

Harry chose this moment to include the Marauders into the act and so he also transformed.

James, Sirius, and Remus cried out in surprise as they transformed. They clearly had not been expecting this but soon joined into the laughter and began to play on the pipes which they had received.

The hall, which had calmed down during the last few transformations, began to clap and sing along with the music.

The Marauders seemed to have been forgiven for the prank…by most.

"Never thought I had it in me to be a musician," said James out loud between breaths as he was playing.

**On the twelfth day of Christmas,  
my true love sent to me  
Twelve drummers drumming,  
Eleven pipers piping,  
Ten lords a-leaping,  
Nine ladies dancing,  
Eight maids a-milking,  
Seven swans a-swimming,  
Six geese a-laying,  
Five golden rings,  
Four calling birds,  
Three French hens,  
Two turtle doves,  
And a partridge in a pear tree!**

The song started to play out for the last time and everybody was waiting with high expectations to see who would be transforming this time.

With a huge flash of light every professor had a drum and the staff table had disappeared.

Most of them groaned and tried to put their drums away but every time they tried to, new drums appeared to replace the old ones. Giving in and accepting defeat, most of the professors started to drum, though some like Thornton blatantly refused to and just glared angrily across the hall. Realising this, her drum sticks began to hover over her head and started to pound her instead.

Dumbledore, however, started to play and did so with gusto as he attempted to play a fast beat version of the same Christmas song, changing to the school song later on. To his surprise and that of the school's he found that he was quite good at it.

"I really must get myself a drum," he said out loud, which made the other professors to cry out in complete alarm.

At last the song came to an end and everybody turned back to normal. Everybody started to clap and cheer loudly, some were even sad that the show was over. James was simply sad that Lily had changed back too. The door to freedom had been forgotten.

Dumbledore even asked if he could have the drums back (after they had disappeared), which made everybody laugh again, although Minerva threatened him fiercely to-not-dare-or-else…

Dumbledore seamed to shrink away from her but Harry who was finding it funny complied which caused Minerva to groan in dismay.

All in all, the hall had mixed feelings and soon everybody was back to normal again.

As soon as Lily turned back to her normal self, she gave James a vicious slap across the face, which turned beet red, and glared at the other Marauders (except Harry, whom she looked at with a small amount of pity a huge amount of wonder and even some affection…though only Harry realised it with slight unease) before she sat back down at the far end of the Gryffindor table, red-faced and as far away from James as possible.

The other Marauders winced and kept quiet.

It was not a pretty sight.

The other girls, however, chose to sit beside their remaining Marauder, much to the delight of one Sirius Black (who had two.)

Harry's was a cute little brown haired witch who seemed delighted that he had chosen her and decided to snuggle into him. Too bad she was born twenty years too early for him. He might have taken her otherwise.

The hall had finally quieted down again and the Marauders stood up to bow. James was tenderly holding his bruised cheek but was otherwise happy.

Immediately the whole hall fell silent.

Dumbledore looked across the hall at him and started to shake his head. "I should have known it would have been you," he said in a warm voice. "So you're the infamous Doom."

It wasn't a question but a statement.

Harry gave a small nod, and was surprised by the looks of awe and in the case of the girls, complete lust, he was receiving.

_Did pranking make you more desirable_? he asked himself as he looked around the hall.

It was clear from the way he looked that Dumbledore wasn't angry. On the contrary, his twinkle suggested that he had never enjoyed himself so much, in fact, that he was even willing to award points for the entertainment, much to some people's disgust; however, seeing that there was no house to award points to, he could not.

"I trust these marvellous pranks will not interfere with classes?" he asked, looking at each of the Marauders in turn.

James, Sirius, and Remus looked at Harry as if asking him the same question. What had just happened a few moments ago had been more than they had ever expected.

"Yes and no," said Harry with a cheeky smile, which turned into a grin as he saw a frown appearing across the headmaster's face.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Herbology has been cancelled this morning," he asked, giving Harry a sharp look

Harry tried to look nonplussed. "Herbology?...no…not that that I know of…why, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing much…the plants have been acting a little strangely…nothing else …back to the question though…" answered Dumbledore

"Oh, er… we will try to limit our pranks to outside of the usual class timetable but there is always the chance that some may accidentally extend into a classroom," said Harry, happy to divert away from Herbology…that was supposed to have happened later on.

Harry was thinking about his special weapon when he said that, as he was pretty sure that it would influence classes, though it wouldn't make a difference when it happened, as he was pretty sure the professors would be very happy, actually more than happy, to ignore it when it did happen.

At least for the day.

"Hmm…I see," said Dumbledore and once again he was disappointed that he couldn't use Legilimency on this enigma of a student. The encounter in his office had convinced him otherwise.

"Well…we shall see, I will decide on appropriate repercussions at the end of the day…for now though…classes await…off you trot….," he spoke to the hall with a resigned sigh.

From that moment he knew it was going to be a long day…a long day indeed.

"Now… If you would be willing to opening the doors," he said, motioning the Marauders to proceed.

Harry nodded and waved his hands as he willed the doors to open.

* * *

Once out in the corridors James and Sirius decided to stick with Harry as they made their way to their first class. Remus, on the other hand said he had to go to the library; he had somehow forgotten to set up a prank and hoped that he could still do it.

Harry offered to help but Remus was adamant that he had to do it himself.

Harry shrugged and let him go. One look into the werewolf's mind told him that it would be worthwhile.

"So Harry…what's next….don't tell me that was that all you did last night?" asked James as they neared the Divination tower for their first class that day, Divination. "I mean that was great…more than great…extraordinary…over exceeded expectations…"

Harry held his hand up and silenced his friend and father.

"No, Prongs… you haven't seen anything yet. The first prank was only to lead them into a false sense of security. The fun's only about to begin and our fans will be delighted before the day is over; you have my word on that…starting with our dear little Divination professor."

"Divination…I thought you didn't take the subject?" asked James.

"I don't… normally, but it will be funny when our dear Professor Die doesn't realise that and then when she has to act as if she hadn't mentioned it, intentionally… besides… Herbology has been cancelled …due to the fact that Professor Sprout's plants are…er…behaving rather strangely this morning." said Harry, with a suppressed smirk. He knew directly what had happened.

"Yes … Jawana does have that, doesn't she," said Sirius smiling evilly.

"So that was you!…What did you do?" asked Sirius, his eyes becoming as big as saucers…

"That was you?" asked James… "I thought you weren't responsible for the …oh right, Peter…well…shame that he had to leave last night to go to his parents…he's missing all of the fun…so what did you do? He didn't seem to care that Harry was stealing the whole show.

"I heard from one of the Hufflepuffs last night that the plants seemed to grow up at a tremendous pace. I was wondering what that meant. No wonder Professor Sprout was missing at breakfast this morning," James said, his respect for his new comrade in pranks had just grown…again.

"Yes, that was me… I think Sprout will have her hands full today… some of those plants can be quite… er… demanding at times," said Harry, diverting the conversation away from Peter…he wasn't comfortable talking about him yet…not right now.

James and Sirius laughed merrily and soon the Divination tower came into view.

They entered the Divination classroom and took some seats at the far back of the room. A few other students gave Harry strange looks but didn't comment. Most had too much respect for their unofficial head and the others didn't care enough anyway.

If he wanted to take an extra class, then who were they to comment on it.

It didn't take long until Professor Die entered the class, promptly tripped over a bag and fell to the ground painfully as she entered. Incidentally it had been the one which Harry had placed there upon entering the room.

"I knew that was about to happen… can't stop fate you know…," she said, a little flustered as she raised herself up from the ground.

Harry scoffed at this but left it at that. The only time he took Seers seriously was when they actually did succeed in making a true prediction. He would know when a real one was made…until then he had no respect towards Seers and their ilk … well not much, anyway.

In the past, or rather the past of the future he might have, but not anymore.

"Now… today we are going to attempt to predict the future through the difficult practice of soul gazing," Die said in a deep mystical voice.

_Soul gazing_? thought Harry, _this ought to be fun_. It was supposedly _the_ most unpredictable form of Divination possible.

"Please turn to your partner and attempt to calm your minds… realise all of your emotions, accept all of your devotions…relax your bodies…loosen your muscles…yes…feel your inner calm…let it open your Inner Eye."

Harry stifled a laugh as somebody made a rather indecent noise.

"Remove all of your thoughts from your minds…good…now take a deep breath…and open your eyes…"

_Oh, we were supposed to close our eyes first_, thought Harry, _must have missed that._

"Look deep into your partner and say the first thing that you see."

Harry looked at James and before he could stop himself he changed to a whispery shaky voice and blurted out:

"I see a nice handsome person, with wonderful brown eyes who will some day marry a green-eyed witch and have a wonderful son who will never be any good at Divination because his teacher doesn't have a clue what she is talking about."

Some of the class gasped while James and a few others snickered with mirth.

"Gee thanks, Harry… I don't know about the Divination part but the green-eyed witch sounds nice," he joked.

"Notice how I never said it would be her," Harry said with a cheeky smile.

Professor Die turned towards Harry and looked at him closely…

* * *

_**Up in the heavens Lily and James were looking at each others lovingly as Harry made his prediction.**_

"_**I never thought our son would be any good at Divination…a real true prediction…I'm stunned," James said, his eyes misty. **_

"_**How true James, how true…especially when we Potters have been known to be absolutely useless at the art," Lily answered just before she gave her husband a loving kiss… "How true…"**_

"_**You tell her, son!" James said just before kissing her back.**_

* * *

"You, my dear, I'm afraid you do not possess the delights of a true Seer, yes…I'm sure you do not… Harry Granger, isn't it… I don't remember having you in my class," she said looking at him sternly.

Harry gasped loudly and put his hand in front of his mouth as if in great surprise.

"No… really… you didn't foresee the miraculous change in class size today?" he said, faking bewilderment and complete horror.

The class began to laugh even louder.

* * *

_**High above James laughed too.**_

* * *

Professor Die seemed taken aback. "Of course I knew…," she said before she glared at Harry, having realised what had just happened.

Scowling fiercely, she moved up to Harry's seat and looked right into his eyes.

Harry just stared right back as if challenging her.

"Ah, I see… a nonbeliever. Here, let me see your soul."

* * *

"_**Hey he's better than you!...and stay away from his soul," said James from high in the heavens.**_

"_**Psst…leave her…kiss me instead," said Lily reaching up to kiss him again.**_

"_**What…but she Demmmph," he said before Lily silenced him with a kiss.**_

* * *

_Oh, here we go again…what is it…the grim?_ Harry thought, laughing to himself.

"Oh yes…OH NO!"... said Professor Die

_Oh please…_ thought Harry, rolling his eyes.

"… My dear boy…you poor, poor boy…the fates really do not smile for you," she sobbed as she looked at Harry with miserable eyes.

"I know, I know… I have the dreadful gift to predict the future more than you," Harry said cheekily with a grin.

* * *

"_**See!" said James from above**_

"_**James!...concentrate, here's the music," Lily said becoming slightly annoyed with the ever present distraction as she reached out for her husband again..**_

* * *

The James below took the moment to hide under the table. He could hardly hold his laughter.

Sirius, however, didn't have that much luck as he simply burst out laughing.

"This is no laughing matter, my dears," Professor Die continued as if nothing had happened, looking at Harry with nothing but complete pity.

"My dear boy…for you I see a grim…grim future indeed…death, my dear, follows you at every door step."

"You don't say," said Harry out loud, rolling his eyes once more that day.

_May the Heavens have pity on my soul_, he thought.

* * *

"_**The Heavens pity you, son," said James from above**_

* * *

"OHHH," she gasped again, this time stepping away from Harry with complete horror in her eyes.

Suddenly her voice changed.

"Oh no," Harry whined as he realised what was happening.

"Oh yes," said James, who hadn't

_"I see darkness for seven unfortunate souls…_

_Five to die,_

_Two to live,_

_One with the same role as before yet changed to become the fourth,_

_One to be the fifth, to couple with the sixth, to create the sixth and eighth._

_One of five has already died,_

_Four of five to follow,_

_Two of seven to survive,_

_The rest for darkness to swallow,"_ and with those last words she fell silent.

* * *

"_**What the hell ! Hey that was good...weird…but good," said the James above, slightly startled. But what was that all about?"**_

_**Even Lily was started by the sudden true prediction as she stopped kissing James.**_

* * *

_OK…now _that_ is just freaking me out,_ thought Harry, feeling shivers down his spine, as he listened to the professor speak, realising that there was once again another prophecy to ruin his life some more.

_I hate prophecies, _he thought miserably.

* * *

"_**I don't blame you, son!" said ethereal James**_

* * *

The rest of the class were now looking at him, some with complete amusement, others with shock and horror. Nobody knew what to make of it.

Feeling very uncomfortable, his other pranks for the woman forgotten, Harry got up and left the room. He needed time to think.

The professor didn't stop him, instead she stepped away as he walked past. She seemed very frightened.

"Poor, poor child," she said after he had left, "…so young and already dead… oh the sorrow... poor child," she said again quietly to herself, not even fully realising what she was saying, before she turned back to teach her class.

The class just gaped at her incredulously. They didn't know how to react to that last statement. Had their professor suddenly gone completely insane? How could he be dead?

Needless to say, all were extremely happy when the end of class bell rang and they were finally allowed to leave the class at the end of the hour.

* * *

_**In the heavens above James and Lily looked at each other nervously…**_

"_**I don't like the sound of that," said James nervously.**_

**_He was fairly sure something terrible had been said._**

**_Like a prediction of certain doom._**

_**Lily bit her lip then answered with another kiss.**_

* * *

Harry was quiet throughout the rest of the morning classes.

He didn't even react and join into the laughter and hoots of joy when the Transfiguration and Potions classrooms began to turn against their respective professors.

Minerva McGonagall became a very unhappy pussy indeed when in the middle of the class, random words started to disappear from her blackboard.

However, after being their head of house for the last six years, she was fairly used to pranksters like the Marauders, and she showed her ability to adapt when she was clever enough not to continue writing on the board. Instead, she dedicated the full hour to dictating the contents and made everybody copy everything down instead.

Assistant Professor Thornton, however, was a different matter altogether.

That morning the Marauders proved to be a real thorn in her side.

When words started to randomly change with others on the blackboard to make new sentences, resulting in multiple miss-brewed potions and several exploding cauldrons, she snapped and spent the entire second half of the class screaming and handing out detentions to anybody who even glanced at her in a way she didn't like. (which were many)

Interestingly enough, at the end of the hour, the Marauders still managed to hand up a half way decent attempt on their potions having carefully followed the guidelines of their books rather than the guidelines on the board. Harry's, as usual, was perfect.

That didn't, however, prevent Thornton from failing everybody on purpose. (Besides the Slytherins, of course.)

Harry didn't really care: he knew when it came to the exams he would be able to finish any potion perfectly and so would the rest of the Marauders.

He would make sure of that. He would help them achieve that goal, if only to spite Thornton and to show her that she wasn't needed…ever!

Finally the last class before lunch was over and Harry re-joined the other Marauders on their way to the Great Hall.

"So, Harry… is everything ready for the second act?" James asked him as they walked past numerous portraits, who all seemed to be busy cursing at whomever walked past them.

Snapping out of his contemplations from the earlier Divination class, Harry immediately brightened up again: "Of course…just watch and learn," he said cheekily while at the same time he watched a red-faced screaming Filch running away from Peeves, who was busy pelting him with eggs wherever he went, cackling with glee, while numerous professors were yelling at him to stop.

Harry had ordered the Bloody Baron to leave him alone for the day, much to Peeves's complete delight.

Harry was so happy and relieved that nobody seemed to take Professor Die seriously…at least he hoped nobody had. James and Sirius didn't seem to anyway.

Sirius followed Harry's gaze and smiled (he didn't dare to laugh…yet).

"He's been doing that ever since we left the hall this morning…has had quite a lot of fun too if it's true what I heard from some of the Hufflepuffs."

James and Harry started to laugh and Sirius, unable to control himself anymore, joined right in.

Just then Remus joined them and asked what the fun was about. After hearing about it, he too started to laugh.

"So Moony… what was your morning like?" asked James, composing himself just as they neared the Great Hall for the second time that day for lunch.

"Well, as you know I went to the library for the morning class, seeing that Herbology had it's …er… what do you call it…unfortunate growth spurt…," he started to say.

Everybody laughed at this.

"Anyway… as I was saying… I went to the library and while I was in there…reading from my own text books I might add… every single book in the library started to fly out off their shelves and fly out of the windows…I believe they are still floating around the Quidditch pitch as we speak…some of them even started to attack Pince.

"She really wasn't very happy about it… in fact, truth be told, she spent the whole morning in the hospital wing recovering from the shock.

"Don't worry, they will all return later on this evening, though I think we'd better get used to buying our own books fast, as she's never going to forgive us for this."

Harry and James flinched as they heard that. Sirius, however, seemed positively giddy about the prospect of having thousands of books flying around the pitch.

"Hey, who wants to play Quidditch later on… the books can be the Snitches…the one who catches the most wins," he asked merrily.

"No thanks," said Harry while James agreed with him. The last thing they wanted to do was give poor Madam Pince a heart attack, which she would definitely get if they were about to play catch with her precious books.

"What happens if it rains?" asked James suddenly, becoming very worried.

"Don't worry, I put water resistant, un-tearable and a dirt resistant charm on every book last night. Even if it rains they should be ok," Remus reassured him. He had wisely thought of that.

Hearing this, James breathed a deep sigh of relief; he didn't want to think what would have happened if all of the books in the library became damaged or worse…if they were destroyed.

If that were to happen he, James Henry Potter, might as well be packing his bags to go to the South Pole… not that it would do him much good. He probably wouldn't even get the chance to do so in the first place.

* * *

Slowly they entered the hall and went to their usual places at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the ghosts, who all seemed to be making rude noises, swearing heavily and throwing rude expressions towards the professors who were sitting at the head table.

Looking up, Harry noticed that the headmaster was wearing earmuffs and was smiling dreamily to himself while a few of his fellow professors were futilely trying to ask him what they were…others were simply doing their best to ignore the ruckus around them and failing miserably.

Nearly all were sending vicious sour glances towards the Marauders.

The intended recipients of these glares, however, waved back cheerfully and acted otherwise supremely unconcerned. Even the notion that they might be spending the rest of their school life in detention didn't seem to have an effect on them… not at that moment anyhow. They all knew they would have enough time to worry about that unfortunate fact later …in glorious silence…now was the time for fun. Sorrow and regret could queue up and follow later.

Nodding to his fellow Marauders, they all waited for the hall to fill up, then, once Harry was happy that there were enough in attendance, he stood up and raised his hands.

Almost immediately everybody in the hall stopped speaking and for the next few seconds a pandemonium of hundreds of forks, knives and spoons could be heard as they fell from their nervous users hands, onto their respective plates and tables.

Almost instantly the whole room became deathly silent…and that had little to do with the fact that two red horns were slowly extending out of the top of Harry's head, nor indeed that he was suddenly wearing his formal Marauders clothes: his night black cloak and his stylish blood red undergarments which made him look more like the legendary Graf Dracula or the infamous Devil himself, than a Hogwarts student.

It didn't even matter that there was a soft glow around him, though that might have helped.

The exception was Minerva, who, now white-faced, seemed to be suddenly unable to tear her eyes from his new features.

No… Harry's mere presence and ability to quiet rooms at a moment's...no...second's notice was all it took.

Incredulously the ghosts had unexpectedly quietened down too.

The rest of the Marauders were looking at Harry, once again, with their mouths open (it seemed to be a habit that day), and finally even Dumbledore began to notice that something was up as he took off his ear muffs and looked up expectantly, a strange glitter in his normally twinkling eyes, which made Harry wonder if it had anything to do with the twenty or so rude and swearing former headmasters and headmistresses in his office.

The old man really seemed to be enjoying himself today, so much seemed clear….or was he?

Harry, not really surprised by the sudden attention he was receiving, looked quite pleased. Smiling mischievously, he took the moment to proceed. Motioning towards his fellow Marauders he took a blue vial out of his robes and raised it as a toast.

James, Sirius, and Remus, understanding that their pranks were about to commence, followed suit and together they drank the blue-green liquid inside.

They all knew what it was… one word, antidote.

Nodding his satisfaction, Harry turned back towards the crowd. With a wave of his godly wand, the great entrance door of the hall swung shut with a loud crash of thunder. Only three lucky students managed to escape before it closed.

With what seemed like a spectacular symphony of clicks, clanks and clangs, its vast array of locks imprisoned and frightened the hall's remaining numerous doomed victims, thus sealing their fates to the pranks of the Marauder from hell.

Seeing this, multiple voices of resigned and defeated groans could be heard originating, once again, from the confinements of a solemn and subdued towering staff table while at the other side of the great locked door, the three free students cried out with glee.

Further below in the lofty waste grounds of the Hogwarts Great Hall, numerous minds of similar equally demoralised students accompanied their leaders' lamentations and began to sing the songs of doom.

Another small wave and grin later, from the self-acclaimed master of chaos, the infamous Count of Doom, a rainbow of brightly coloured words found themselves once more in their enchanted obligation to appear, in the high heavens of this 'Maraudic' battlefield.

_**Welcome back to the Marauders' Doomsday special! **_

_**The Marauders, Messers: Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, Doom and Prongs would like to express their sincere gratitude to their numerous admiring fans.**_

_**Mr. Prongs would also like take this moment to announce that while he really has enjoyed himself thus far, Mr. Padfoot is of the opinion that, while he is sure he will have a lot of fun tonight, we have only had the first act. **_

_**Mr. Wormtail silently agrees and thus Mr. Moony is advising everybody to become comfortable as it becomes clear that it is about to become increasingly chaotic once more. **_

_**Therefore Mr. Doom would now like to take this moment to respectfully ask everybody to solemnly brace themselves as we are about to proceed with the show:**_

_**So, with out further ado…**_

_**Let the show recommence:**_

_**We, the Marauders, wish you a nice day!!**_

With these last few words, fast beat music started to play and was soon followed by a brilliant flash of light, only to be replaced a second later by utter coal black darkness.

From one second into the next, the whole hall descended into chaos.

Every bit of sun light seemed to have disappeared, making it impossible to see even an inch in front of your face.

Only one student with the name of Doom was able to see…everything and anything at all.

Harry Potter aka Harry Granger aka Count Doom, Master of Chaos, 4th and greatest of the Marauders (seeing how Wormtail had died), was able to use his 'hunters sight' to see perfectly in the dark.

For the next few minutes he just sat back, sucked a summoned martini, and watched leisurely as the whole hall tried multiple light spells of varying difficulty, only to fail miserably.

Then they all tried to walk around clumsily bumping into other people along the way as they felt around blindly in front of them.

It was the worst game of blinds wizards' buff the world had ever seen.

Harry watched the scene in silence and for a moment he realised just how easy it would be for him to dispose of everybody, there and then, everyone…all of them… but that was not his mission…

His mission was just three of them…well, two now...without causing a panic.

After about ten minutes, finally bored, Harry turned his attention back towards the staff table and picked out his next target.

_There you are, Thorny_, he thought evilly as he found his next prank prey.

He took out his wand. He pointed it at the hated professor and…

…turned her into a goat.

* * *

Above in the Heavens, the older, dead Marauders were looking down at the scene with glee. Never in their short lifetimes had they witnessed such an amazing achievement before.

"Take that, Thorny!" said Sirius, making a rude gesture towards the old goat.

"Give 'em Hell…make us proud, son," said James, wishing for the umpteenth time that he could be down there to join into the fun.

"All hail the Master of Chaos, greatest of the Marauders five, the greatest, the craziest… the incredible Count of Doom," they sang together and then took another swig of Uncle Satan's finest homemade rum.

Neither noticed the holy and the evil one huddled together, whispering quietly at a nearby table.

Neither noticed two barely contained identical unsettling grins which were threatening to spread across their ancient faces… a disturbing site indeed.

* * *

"Mahhhhh," Thornton's goat like voice cried through the hall.

"MAHHHHH!" it came again, more strongly this time, as she realised that something was wrong, very wrong, with her.

Harry watched as the professor, who still couldn't see a thing, started to panic.

Thinking it best to put her out of her misery … by showing the rest of the hall the fun, Harry continued the act:

Waving his wand once more in a complex arch, he teleported Thornton (the goat) onto the staff table and froze her.

Then, with a second intricate set of waves of his wand and a few silently spoken words of devilish power, an old man, who looked quite similar to the headmaster appeared beside her. This old man he also froze.

Next Harry summoned a leash which he magically attached one end to the goat, the other he placed into the old man's right hand.

His preparations complete, Harry waved his wand a few final times.

With another flash, he un-froze his victims and the darkness vanished.

* * *

Around the same time, all over the school, while Harry was busy in the hall and everything was in complete and utter darkness, multiple other pranks were taking affect:

For a brief spit second, the school's multiple corridors, roofs, walls and stairs lit up in an assortment of multiple different colours as waves of pranks were activated, before returning back into complete darkness.

The only area in the school which did not seem to be affected by this was the Great Hall.

So nobody even knew what had happened… yet.

Mr. Filch, the slimy caretaker of Hogwarts (no pun intended), was busy retreating from Peeves, who still hadn't given up the chase and was merrily egging the aging Squib, when everything went dark.

His sight gone, he gave out a furious scream of righteous anger then ran right into a nearby wall. For the next few minutes he knew no more.

At the same time, in green house number three, Professor P. Sprout was busy casting wards to contain her multiple hyperactive, furiously growing, green monster charges and had just finished in time when all of the light in the room seemed to turn around in a twirl of illumination (like in a whirl pool of water) and visually fly out of sight, chased away by ever increasing darkness, leaving nothing but the complete blackness of never-ending night.

Crying out in alarm, the professor tripped over a plant stump and lay still.

Just when she was about to panic, the light came back, and in a reverse fashion of the few minutes before, the darkness retreated, chased away by seven magnificent galloping horses of pure white light.

Pomona Sprout, Herbology Professor and Hufflepuff head of house, could only stare.

This was magic of the like she had never seen before. Never in her wildest dreams.

Totally exhausted from the days endeavour she sat down and for the first time that day, she took some time to rest.

* * *

Back in the Great Hall everybody blinked as the sudden flash of pure light hit them.

It took a few seconds for everybody's eyes to adjust and to see clearly, but what a sight it was to behold:

Every male professor and student in the school found them selves suddenly in bright pink dresses (except the Marauders, who wore joker outfits and Harry, who wore a king's dress robes, complete with a royal crown and sceptre)

The uniforms of every male student had suddenly changed into a full female attire of a short pink mini skirt, accompanied by a short pink shirt, two pink socks (much to Dumbledore's delight since he loves socks), a pink robe and even (for whose who looked afterwards) a set of a white bra and white knickers, all accompanied with a nice stylish pink bonnet, worn usually by nuns, for the head.

The female professors and students, however exchanged their normal school robes for stylish black tuxedo suits, white shirts, black socks, and all the usual male undergarments.

At this stage the whole school was once again in complete chaos.

Everybody was staring at his or her best friend or nearby partner.

Some were screeching or screaming, others (mainly the more self conscious females) were blushing slightly when they realised that a particular Marauder had forgotten about a certain piece of female clothing above the waist, though whether that had had been intentional or unintentional nobody could tell.

The professors, however, were just too shocked to react and had seemingly relinquished their control for the day.

Only Dumbledore, it seemed, looked remotely happy with his new outfit and was happily twiddling his beard with one hand while with the other he was examining his own new female attire with gleeful beady eyes.

What an ugly female he made.

But none of that gave more of an outcry of complete and brutal, unholy laughter than that what had happened to a certain Potions mistress.

When people finally came out of their stupor and noticed her, the laughter in the hall was quite disturbing to behold and the mistress's fury afterwards had been terrible, or so it was later told.

Thornton, the thorn in the Marauders' sides, had turned into a perfect imitation of a cute little billy goat.

But who was that old coot beside her? With another horrified bleat she knew.

For the old coot of a man was in fact none other than the crazy brother of an equally crazy headmaster. Wildly renowned for experimenting on and his well known love for goats, the man was Aberforth Dumbledore, the younger of the two.

Albus Dumbledore became beet red as he saw his brother in the hall, but that was nothing compared to the named brother, whose bulbous eyes were nearly poking out of his head.

For as unfortunate as it may seem, shocking to the core, Harry had caught him in a fairly compromising situation…in the showers in the tender act of putting on some sort of fresh cream.

Seeing this, the whole hall burst out into a complete mortifying raucous of gasps and laughter. Along with a pitiful bleat from the unexpected sheep…er goat... it was complete and total harmony.

A few minutes later, Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore, humiliated headmaster of Hogwarts had left the hall and was still busy trying to compose and consolidate with his equally if not more so completely humiliated and distraught brother, but the situation looked quite bleak.

His brother, as mortified at he was, had hastily left the hall in somewhat of a hurry, more like a flash and so it was that the big chief himself was not around to defend the school from the next stage of pranks which the Marauders had in store.

The laughter in the hall had still not quite settled and a certain goat was still quite nettled, when the next act came in full galore.

For unknown to his victims, the prankster from hell was still short some fun.

His next prank had still to come.

Harry cleared his throat.

"Well…that was rather…unfortunate…my sincere condolences to Mr. Aberforth, may he blush in peace…amen!

More laughs erupted trough the hall.

"No matter…

"Let's get on with the show.

"As you may by now have noticed, some …changes…yes that's the right word…changes have accord …in the last few seconds.

"Professor Thornton might agree with me that she makes a fine little goat…no?…oh well…could be worse…imagine being turned into a gnat or…ahem…anyway…" Harry said, slightly flustered.

Thornton (the goat) gave another pitiful bleat.

_Aberforth will never forgive me for this,_ Harry thought with a bit of regret.

"SO!…on with he show," he continued, recovering from his plight and livening up again.

He was soon interrupted.

"Mr. Granger…I order you to stop his nonsense and to put her right again this instant," Professor McGonagall said fiercely.

It was very clear she was in no mood for any more nonsense.

She had been horrified by the sudden appearance of the headmaster's brother and was furious about what had happened.

For a moment Harry grimaced at the sudden dilemma, not that he didn't expect to get into trouble.

Stalling for a second, he looked at his watch…after a second he smiled…an evil smile, one which promised trouble…major trouble…trouble of the highest degree.

He realised that the main prank of the day was ready…his potion had had time to work, the secret weapon was ready to go.

_This is it,_ he thought_, no turning back now…all or nothing…that's the name of the game. __Rien ne va plus…the die is cast._

Grinning evilly, really, really evilly, evil enough to send shivers down spines, he looked back up and said:

"That's ok, **Professor McGonagall**… please…feel free to give us any **punishment** you wish. **Professor McGonagall**, **detention** would be just fine…thanks."

The Marauders groaned.

Suddenly two silent chimes, two unmistakable sounds, like 'bings' could be heard coming from the stern professor.

**Bing Bing** then all was quiet.

Very quiet…too quiet, in fact.

Nearly every student in the hall held their breaths, two girls even fainted, and the other Marauders looked horrified…

Nobody, nobody ever got to speak with the deputy headmistress like that and hoped to get away with it. Silently they waited for the impending doom…for the count of Doom, which was sure to come.

But it never came…

Minerva McGonagall was shocked, shocked beyond words and absolutely furious.

"Very well…Mr. Granger…as …a…a….a…a… what?" she said, suddenly seriously confused.

"Sorry, Professor!" said Harry sweetly…at that moment he knew he had won.

"Er…" said McGonagall again, she was somehow stuck for words…

Turning to her colleague:

"Er…sorry…Fil…what was I about to do?"

"What?" exclaimed a few students loudly who were looking strangely at the two professors. Did they just hear correctly?

A few Slytherins who had looked up gleefully at their nemeses certain doom, stared.

James and Sirius looked at each other, then at Harry, confusion evident in their eyes…

Harry, however, just smiled.

Filius Flitwick, Charms professor, looked incredulously at his fellow Transfigurations professor, boss, close friend, and frowned.

"I believe you were going to punish the boy," he answered, looking at the deputy head as if she had two heads instead of one.

"Punish? Fil?" said McGonagall. "Sorry…**Fil**…what does **punish** mean?"

**Bing**

Harry's smile widened.

Flitwick stared at her for a second then opened his mouth to reply:

"P…er…I don't know!…what does it mean?" he asked suddenly, surprising himself.

He didn't know anymore.

"W…what?" asked a few students.

They couldn't believe what their professors were saying.

"MHAAAAAAA!" said Thornton loudly in her goat voice.

She seemed to be extremely agitated.

"**Everybody**…excuse me…" Harry said getting everybody's attention. "Looks like the **goat **wants to say something," Harry exclaimed cheekily.

A second later you could nearly hear the drop of hundred of mouths as they all opened across the hall.

"Mhaaa!" came a short angry bleat.

**Bing**

"What's a goat?" asked Sinistra, the Astronomy professor, who was scratching her head, looking completely lost.

"Good gracious me…what's that?" asked Flitwick, pointing towards Thornton.

"I don't know," answered McGonagall, "looks ugly to me."

Minerva really didn't know what to make of the goat in the middle of the hall.

"MHAAAA!!" came a reply, this time of complete dismay

"Get this...thing out of here," said McGonagall just as Harry opened his mouth to speak.

"Excuse me, **Professors**…are you going to **punish** us or not?" Harry asked sweetly, barely containing his laughter.

**Bing**

"Punish you? There is that word again…whatever does he mean?" asked Minerva more to herself than to anybody in particular.

The rest of the professors just shrugged. They had no idea.

Harry smiled.

"Well?" asked Harry

"No, no, that's ok…no need," said Minerva, waving him away, blushing furiously…" what ever that means she mumbled to herself, she didn't know what to do. She had no idea what she had just agreed to.

"Thanks, Professor…er, **Professors**…would you still like to see us in **class** later on?" he asked sweetly.

"I mean…**Professors**…do we still have **lessons** today?" he added, altering the question.

**Bing Bing**

"Class, what's a class?" asked Flitwick, blinking in complete confusion.

"Search me…I haven't got the faintest," Minerva answered. She looked ready to panic.

"What in the blazes is a lesson?" Professor Blake asked. He had been quiet until then. "Is that something to eat?" he asked.

"How should I know …never heard of it before," Minerva answered in an angry voice before she could stop herself.

At that moment she was so irked with the situation she didn't really care what she was saying, nor how she said it.

"Don't speak to me like that, **Minerva**…all because you're **deputy** **headmistress** doesn't give you the right to talk like that," said Blake furiously, his hot temper breaking though.

**Bing**

"Deputy headmistress? …goodness's sake… **Peter**...please… **speak** some sense… has everybody gone crazy today?" Minerva asked, becoming angry again.

**Bong**

Harry raised his eyebrows and looked towards his fellow Marauders…looking towards the exit, he motioned them to follow him and to stay quiet.

Extremely confused but showing that they understood, they followed him.

"Blalbalblballblba," said Professor Blake said, before he could stop himself.

Horrified, he put his hand in front of his mouth.

"PETER!" intoned Minerva furiously.

Peter Blake just looked back meekly. He had forgotten how to speak

Harry frantically made his way towards the door of the Great Hall.

He had severe problems keeping his laughter in.

Others were just watching the scene stupidly. They didn't know what to make of it.

With a wave of his hands, Harry unlocked the door. With another wave it sprang open.

"Hey **everybody**…look… the **door** is open again," said a nearby student.

**BING**

"Door?...what's a door?" asked a few students simultaneously…

"Oh look, a hole in the wall…wonder what that's for," said another.

Harry couldn't take it anymore, grabbing his friends he made a B line for the exit.

Once outside he started to laugh, hysterically.

Finding an empty classroom, avoiding armed pranks as he went, Harry laughed and laughed until he was sore.

His friends just looked at him, then at each other and shrugged.

Remus had a thoughtful look on his face thinking furiously.

Seeing this Harry broke down once more. He continued to laugh until he had problems breathing and could laugh no more.

The other Marauders tried to wait patiently.

Finally he was able to speak again.

"Seriously, lads…I'm surprised who haven't realised what happened yet," said Harry merrily, he was still finding it difficult to speak coherently.

"Well, you seem to know… and you're going to tell us…right mate?" asked Sirius, who was shaking his head.

"Seriously mate… I thought we were done for… nobody ever got away with speaking like that to Big MG…what were you thinking?" Remus asked.

"It's clear he wasn't," intoned James. He was beginning to seriously question his friend's mental state.

"You just don't get it, lads…do you?" asked Harry, finding enough free will to speak.

"No, but you're about to enlighten us, aren't you?" asked James, becoming angry.

"Oh, lads," said Harry, sighing. "Ok…let me explain what just happened."

The other Marauders just nodded for him to proceed.

Taking a deep breath Harry continued:

"What you just saw was the direct result of my secret weapon…that was what you all drank the antidote for…otherwise none of you would know what a door is right now," said Harry, laughing again.

"NO… You couldn't have," said Remus suddenly, his eyes widening, as sudden understanding filtered into his head.

"Yes!" said Harry with a huge grin. _About time,_ he thought

"What's up, Moony? Do you understand what just happened?" James asked his werewolf friend. He was still clueless.

Sirius just stayed quiet and listened.

"I think so…let Harry continue," Remus answered, a huge smile on his normally serious face.

Harry continued to speak…

"I'll keep it short… the potion makes it so that if you speak a person's name or say a word which makes people or a particular person recognise as you speaking to them and then follow it up with a certain verb or noun, making it clear that you're saying that certain verb or noun… then the victim of the potion would forget everything about that verb or noun…" Harry explained simply.

Sirius still looked stupidly at Harry, but James brightened up…

"Bloody brilliant….if you're saying what I think you're saying…then…wow…just wow," said James, unable to think of a more suitable word to say.

He looked deeply impressed.

"Can somebody please tell me what this is all about?" asked Sirius, annoyed. He hated being the stupid one… that was normally Peter's job.

"Seriously, Sirius, use your head," said Remus.

Sirius growled a dog like growl.

"The potion makes people forget certain words…for instance… if you said McGonagall's name and told her not to forget to read…she would forget how to read…that's why Professor Blake couldn't speak…he didn't know how to anymore," Remus explained.

"Oh…I get it!" said Sirius, suddenly brightening up. "But that's incredible…simply unbelievable…where did you learn that potion….was that the potion you were talking about back in Diagon Alley…?"

"Yes…that was the one…and sorry, can't tell you where I learned it…NOW…let's get back to the hall…I'm sure it's in complete chaos by now," Harry said

The others looked at each other and smiled…then grinned…then began to laugh once more…

It took a while, but they finally followed Harry back to the hall.

"My, am I happy that I never pranked you," said Sirius. He was completely in awe.


	12. Castle Of Chaos Part 2

Harry Potter, Life's a Prophecy

Chapter 12

Castle of Chaos

Part 2

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not known Harry Potter, his friends or his world.

Chapter Beta'd by: RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

Soon afterwards, Harry started to lead the rest of the Marauders back towards the Great Hall.

Along the way they met Peeves, who seemed to be very unhappy and grumbling about something.

"Hey Peeves, what the haps?" asked Harry merrily as they walked past the well known naughty poltergeist.

James and the rest eyed the eggs which Peeves was holding warily, ready to cast shields and to run if the poltergeist decided to change his mind on their truce and attack them instead.

They need not have worried. Even if a truce between the mischievous ghost and the Marauders had not been agreed upon, Peeves would not have dared to attack them, not with Harry there at least. His status as heir of one of the founders made him virtually untouchable, and nobody, not even the bothersome little ghost wished to annoy him.

"Oh it's you mast'r Gran-gee Sir …," he started to speak as he noticed Harry.

"Notins up…that's what's annoying me so much…Filch the lazy dope decided to quit our game and said nighty night, I'm out."

Surprised, Harry raised an eyebrow at this. "What! Peeves! You let him go?...I'm disappointed…ar…"

"No, no, no," said the poltergeist, horrified that his idol could even think such a thing.

"How can Sir Gran-gee think that of little Peevesee…"

"Then why aren't you…er…having some fun?" Harry asked.

"Slimy Filchy ran into a walley, now he won't move no more," replied the ghost.

"Oh… I see, he's ok though… I mean, he won't stay that way… right?" Harry asked, more than just slightly worried that Peeves might have killed the normally bad tempered old man.

Peeves shrugged. "Not sure, Nosey Nursey Poppy took him away, threatened me with her wand, said some spell, now I'm here."

"I see, well, I've got to go, have some more fun, Peeves…er…I'll see you later, oh and before I forget, there are a few dung bombs and other …niceties for you to use in the dragon 7th year dorms, they are in my trunk under my bed, password's: 'Marauders are at war, give me some goodies from the old gun store,' if you promise not to ruin the dorms, you can go in there and have them," Harry said as he started to move away again.

"Thanksy, Gran-gee Sir! Peevesee promises not to harm the dormsees for the 'Magnus nex viotor ex abyssus,' and heir (big death messenger from Hell…and heir), Gran-gee Sir!" Peeves answered with a horrible grin and a wink as he spoke the last words in Latin, then with a huge cackle, a Gran-gee, Potty, Doggie, Wolfie and a salute later he flew away, once again the prancing ghost on a mission.

Harry was shocked but he did not show it and it was just as well. Peeves's last words had taken him by surprise, but luckily nobody else seemed to have understood what Peeves had said.

The rest of the Marauders had been quiet while Harry spoke to the ghost.

They all knew that only he could control Peeves, besides the Bloody Baron or the headmaster perhaps.

As soon as they were out of sight, James, ignoring Peeves comment, turned back to Harry and said instead:

"So that's why we were never able to open that blasted trunk…it wasn't just one or two words but a complete sentence. Our password breaking ritual spell which we put on the Marauders' Map can only break up to two word passwords…," he grumbled.

Harry only smiled, very relieved that nobody seemed to care about what Peeves had said.

He had always wanted to know how the old Marauders' Map always knew every password around the whole school. Now he knew. Fred and George would do nearly anything for that information.

"Not that it would do you any good, put yes…I always use phrases…oh and just so that you know…be happy that you didn't, Peeves is a Poltergeist, an immortal ghost like being who can't be killed but you aren't…the trunk has more protections than just an odd password," Harry said with more than just a serious evil smirk.

The other Marauders flinched. None of them wanted to know what that just meant.

Nobody noticed Remus as he trailed behind the group with a thoughtful expression on his face.

As the Marauders neared the Great Hall, again lead by Harry so that they wouldn't walk into any traps, they suddenly saw the same three students who had managed to flee the hall before Harry had locked the doors for the second act.

Only they didn't look very happy, not now in the slightest, even though they hadn't been around for the fun. It hadn't helped them… much.

On the contrary, they all looked fairly subdued to say the least.

"Help us…please!" pleaded one of them as Harry and Co. walked past underneath them.

The other two soon joined in as the Marauders walked past.

"Finite Incantatum doesn't seem to work…please help," pleaded another.

Again Harry just smiled, ignoring the trio above, while James, Remus and Sirius simply gaped at the three students. They believed in magic alright, but this was something else.

"Why should I not be surprised," said Sirius quietly to James, who was shaking his head as he too saw the trio.

Two of the unlucky escapees were walking upside down on the ceiling of the corridor, the other sideways on a wall.

That itself wouldn't have been too strange, if it weren't for the fact that nothing seemed to be holding them in place at all and all of their clothes seemed to be falling upwards too, not downwards like as would have been the norm.

"Their gravity poles have been changed," said Harry without giving them another glance.

"As long as neither of them goes outside they should be just fine," Harry added with an evil grin as he continued along his way.

James and Sirius gulped while Remus went white at the thought.

Neither of them wanted to know what would happen then.

* * *

A few minutes later Harry, followed by the gang, walked back through the Great Hall doors.

After knocking the door into an unsuspecting fellow student when they opened it up, hitting him in the face as they walked in, Harry nearly collapsed in laughter at the sight which greeted him.

James and the rest weren't so lucky, as they just dropped and started to roll.

Half the students were crawling around the floor, others were jumping, obviously having forgotten how to walk, others still were busy using their hands as feet to get around, they seemed to have also forgotten how to crawl.

The professors, however, now extremely red-faced and sweaty, seemed to have half way figured out what was happening and some had diverted to writing their thoughts down, others again were frantically using sign language to get their thoughts across.

They seemed to be having a difficult time sending the desired correct meanings though.

_Clever little blighter's,_ thought Harry, actually impressed. Sign language and writing were not affected by the potion.

Seeing Harry and his friends re-enter the hall, Professor Blake tried to get his fellow professors' attention by making grunting noises and pointing.

Unfortunately, even troll speech made sense from time to time as Minerva turned to look at what was bothering him.

Her eyes immediately grew wider, and pointing her wand towards a piece of parchment ,she frantically summoned it over to her and started to write.

Harry, realising what she was doing, immediately started to speak:

"**Professors**…what are you **writing**?"

Sirius immediately understood what Harry was up to and added:

"**Professors**…Why are you using **sign language**?"

James quickly finished off with, "…**Professors**…why don't you **communicate** normally…Is everything all right?"

**BING BING BOING!!**

Minerva froze…let out a wail of despair, looked at the guilty trio, then threw away her quill in complete disgust. Finally she started to cry.

To say that the Marauders were shocked would have been a grave understatement.

For the next few seconds they just looked incredulously at their former, now weeping and utterly defeated, head of house. This had never happened before…nor would it probably ever happen again.

Minerva was usually a very stern woman who would never ever show any weaknesses.

She was usually one of the strongest witches anybody could find for miles around.

That she would break down like this…was normally unbelievable, yet it had just happened.

Remus suddenly felt very sorry for her and without thinking said:

"Now, now…it's ok, Professor, be brave… please don't cry."

Almost instantly Remus put his hand in front of his face in horror.

"Oh sorry…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean…"

But before he could continue Harry stopped him.

"It's ok, Remus…it didn't work…it can't work, she can't understand you any more," he said, putting a comforting hand on his friend's arm. James made sure of that…I mean come on… 'communicate'…really!"

"Oh…Okay," Remus replied, not being able to say anything better, while James just looked slightly sheepish.

Remus took a step forward to touch his former professor but immediately regretted it when she flinched away from him.

Their once stern, know-an-answer-to-everything professor had been reduced to a completely demoralised quivering mess on the floor.

For the next few seconds the Marauders just looked at each other…

"Oops!" said James with a guilty look which nicely complimented his thoughts.

Was this the same head of house they could remember?

_Now I understand why I learned this potion_, Harry thought to himself as he watched the helpless professor quivering on the ground. _Even Satan didn't find this fun… well maybe a little. _

The other professors didn't seem to fare much better.

While not a quivering mess on the floor like their colleague, most of them were just staring blankly into space.

Except for Filius Flitwick, who for some reason was busy, idly poking a bread crumb on a table. From his giddy expression, it seemed fairly obvious that he was searching his mind for a possible solution to what it could be.

"Well…at least someone's having fun," said James with a small weak grin.

Thornton the goat, however, was still busy staring at them with angry humiliated eyes, but that was about all she could do. While Harry and the rest of the Marauders had left the hall, someone had, by the looks of it, tied her to the floor.

"She will never forget this," Harry mused out loud as he saw the goat of a professor.

"Nor will the rest of them," whispered James quietly from beside him.

"I wonder why she wasn't affected?" asked Remus

"Who said she wasn't," said Harry

"Oh… I see," said Remus as he realised that she was always like that.

The rest could only nod and agree.

Hogwarts had been brought down to its knees and was begging for mercy, in fact it was begging the Marauders for mercy…how low did the mighty fall.

* * *

High in the Heavens a ghost called Dumbledore was horrified and shaking his ghostly head.

"Harry… please, please," he moaned. "Please, leave Hogwarts in one piece…I really, really want it still standing when I come back," he pleaded quietly but knew it was no use.

Beside him James and Sirius were laughing, making bets on what would happen next, while in a corner two beings, one holy, the other satanic, and both highly dangerous in their own way, were preparing for something of an immense magnitude.

For a second James looked over at the two and shivered. It felt like as if someone had stepped over his grave.

_This is not good!_ he thought. _When Heaven and Hell combine under one cause…that can't be good….can it?_

Something told James to stay away for a while.

* * *

It took about half an hour for the quartet to finally decide what to do next. They didn't want to be evil after all…it was all supposed to have been fun…right?

It truly hadn't been easy though.

They were constantly distracted by numerous crawling, hopping, or hand walking students, and they all seemed to be able to blabber and dribble instead of talk. To make sense of them was virtually impossible.

It soon became quite annoying after a while, but they kept at it. Problem was, they didn't actually know what to do.

According to Harry, the antidote they used would only work before the potion was used. So in the end they only had two options: One was to wait for the potion to lose effect, which it would in about four hours; the other was to brew the counter potion.

The second option proved useless though, as it would take approximately a month to do just that. The B.Y.S. potion, however, would lose its effect in four hours anyway, so, in the end they just decided to wait and that was that.

For the next three hours the four pranksters, now turned hoggysitters, kept watch over their dribbling hoglings and did the best they could, which unfortunately turned out to be not that much.

Harry conjured himself some wizarding puzzles to solve while he waited, while Sirius amused himself by poking Severus with his wand.

James, however, tried to imitate the headmaster from his stand at the head table, singing love poems to a dribbling Lily, while Remus tried to comfort a quivering mess…er… a crying little miss McGonagall instead.

Little did they know that in a small office in a small tower not that far away, a highly annoyed headmaster was desperately trying to get out of his own office, locked inside his own domain after seeing his brother off through the Floo.

For just a few minutes before, an equally, if not more so, annoyed Aberforth had left the building, left it to a lock down …as soon, Floo, door, nor even Portkeys worked no more.

* * *

_**#Headmaster's Office, three hour before, shortly after Aberforth's arrival in the Great Hall. **_

"I'm so sorry about this Abe…I…don't know what to say…," said Albus as he frantically tried to console his red-faced, highly embarrassed, freshly robed brother.

He had 'loaned' him a pair of his best robes for the solemn occasion.

"Spare me with your blabbering stupidity you bloody old twit," said Aberforth angrily as he reached out for some Floo powder from the Floo stand.

"Abe…please…I didn't know…"

"Of course he did!" said a portrait of a former headmaster cheekily near by.

Albus ignored it. Instead, he tried to speak some more but Aberforth beat him to it.

"Of course you didn't know, or maybe you did, I don't really give a damn, you midget-sized pea head…but that's beside the point," Aberforth nearly roared before he quietened down again, with difficultly.

"But he did!" said the portrait again, pouting slightly.

Now in a somewhat quieter voice, Aberforth continued:

"Look, Albus… I knew, your staff knew, and YOU definitely knew that the Marauders would someday go too far with their pranks…but did you listen to us?...NO!! Of course you didn't," said Aberforth sarcastically.

"Abe…please…I'm sure it was just an unfortunate mistake..…they…"

"I can't believe this…you…. Albus…you lost control …admit it…," Aberforth said between angry breaths

"Abe!…please…they…"

"You lost control…they finally got you...NO!…worse, they got ME!!"

"Abe, please lis…"

"NO! ...shut up and let me finish, for once listen TO ME you old fool..."

"Abe, for the love of Merlin…control yourself…please…"

"ARRGGG…," Aberforth screamed, and covering his ears, he grabbed some powder and threw it into the fire. A second later with a flash of green, he was gone, leaving a very troubled red-faced Albus Dumbledore behind.

"Don't say we didn't warn you, Dumby Dork," said a portrait

"SHUT UP!" Dumbledore roared and before he could stop himself he fired a hex towards the portrait, but missed.

"Now, now…temper temper, my boy," said the same portrait snidely.

"I SAID, SHUT UP!" Dumbledore roared again: he had finally had enough.

"How crude…and you call yourself a headmaster, tss, tss, tss!" said another portrait scornfully.

Dumbledore groaned. "That's it…I'm calling a stop to this, as much as I was enjoying it until now, Abe is right, they finally went too far…," he said to himself as he got up to leave his office…but… he couldn't.

He could try as much as he wanted, but he just couldn't…not anymore.

"What the hell!" he said out loud..."Why…won't this… _Alohomora_…ok… _patefacio_. Hmmm… _Obex evanui_… _Abolesco_… for fuck's sake… open, I say!!…," he bellowed.

"Oy…boy…watch your language!" came an angry shout from across the room.

Dumbledore just grumbled something about darn cheeky portraits. Walking up to the Floo, he proceeded to throw in some powder, but again nothing happened.

"Oh, come on, you can't be serious..," he said in exasperation.

"But I am," said the portrait. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to……"

With a quick jerk of his hand Albus cast a Silencing Charm on the portrait.

Said portrait gave him the finger in reply, but this time Albus ignored it.

Fuming, holding an object in his hand, Albus loudly said: "_Portus._" But instead of the normal bluish tinge of a Portkey, he saw nothing…instead he heard:

"Access denied…level 10 clearance (founders clearance) required, please try again later…or how about never!...Sir!. Sorry! We wish you a nice day…," came the combined voice of the five Marauders.

"Oops! Looks like they got you again!" all twenty or so of the odd remaining portraits sang out while the silenced portrait made laughing gestures instead.

Taking a moment to roll his eyes, Dumbledore tried the door again, but as before, it wouldn't budge.

"AND AGAIN!!" chorused the portraits.

Sighing to himself, admitting defeat, for now, Dumbledore went over to a shelf nearby and retrieved a book, not just any book but _The Muggle Art of Lock Picking_.

Slowly, with a sigh he began to read. If anything it was going to be a long day…yes…It was going to be a long day indeed.

"AND AGAIN!!"

Finally, approximately three hours later, a lot of taunts (from the portraits), twenty seven broken hair pins, numerous Silencing Charms and several curses later, Albus finally heard a click as the door swung open.

"Yippeeedodaday !" he cried out happily, sarcastically, obviously close at nerves' end as he realised that he had finally succeeded.

A second later with a jubilant, "I'm free," the old, childish man was through the door and away.

Only the portraits were left, unhappy and glowering as only portraits could.

As quick as a flash, the esteemed, now free, headmaster of Hogwarts rushed towards the Great Hall. It was fairly clear that he was slightly nervous about what he would find, though he didn't show it.

Had anybody looked at the headmaster they would have thought he wasn't taking the moment seriously. Those who knew him better though, could clearly see that he was annoyed, angry, and on his way to a group of four.

On a perch nearby, Fawkes, his phoenix, and Icetasia, another phoenix, were standing on his perch two by two. Fawkes shrugged as only a phoenix could. The old duff had completely forgotten about him. Quickly he went back to preen his new mate anew.

* * *

_**#A few minutes later, Great Hall**_

James was in the middle of his fifty sixth verse of his latest love poem, when the door of the hall sprang open with a loud bang.

With an apparent rage, which could have matched a hundred angry hippogriffs, the headmaster entered the hall, opened his mouth, took a deep breath to shout …but froze.

In front of him were hundreds of students, dribbling and crawling, others hopping around the hall.

"What in the name of…," he started to say but stopped, utterly perplexed at what he could see.

"Minerva…what?… Minerva?…What is going on here?" he asked before looking around the room searching for his second in command before glancing at the rest.

He could only gawk incredulously at what he saw.

His 'staff' were all unresponsive, mainly staring into space, while his deputy was quietly sleeping, her head resting, snoring merrily on a book case.

The only professor half way active called Filius Flitwick, was pointing at him, making indecent sounds. He seemed quite happy, giggling in fact, like a naughty toddler during a morning breakfast meal.

Sirius was unaware of him, and was busy humping Severus in his dog form, and finally, now with his mouth wide open, Albus heard James singing a love poem to a crawling Lily, who seemed to be dribbling on his favourite Hogwarts chair.

For a few minutes he just stood there, his bulbous eyes wide while around him the Marauders one-by-one began to notice that he was at hand.

James immediately stopping singing and slowly, uneasily, he walked away from the stand. Sirius yelped loudly and quickly sprang away as if shocked. Remus, who was babysitting Minerva, smiled sweetly and gave a small shy wave, while Harry just looked up from his puzzle, shrugged slightly, nodded his head and finally wrote down, 'rave.'

Shaking his head, his anger forgotten, replaced by complete confusion and disbelief, Albus sat down on a near by bench and, putting his head in his hands, he held it firmly in place.

"Oookaaay!!…let's just take this nice and easy shall we? Can somebody please enlighten me to what just happened…no…wait!…on second thoughts…I don't want to know. Just…"

For once it was just too much for him to handle.

The usually calm and unflappable headmaster slowly shook his head, got up, and began to walk away.

"Just … call me when everything is back to normal… I trust you can put this back to the way it was… right? Good!

"Now… I have a splittin' headache…I'm going for a nap… maybe this will turn out to be just a bad dream… I'll…yes, that's it…it's all just a bad dream… see you later on…," he said in complete denial.

And with that he left, from whence he once came.

The Marauders just stared: they couldn't believe their luck. They had found a way to make their headmaster shut up.

True, Harry may have looked like he didn't care as he studied his crossword puzzle, but even he hadn't really been looking forward to facing the angry headmaster, even if said professor would never really have had any real control over him, apart from expelling him perhaps and he would have seen to that.

If that had indeed happened, Harry would just have altered memories.

However, he wanted to avoid doing that as long as he could.

Therefore it came as quite a pleasant surprise when the headmaster, as angry as he may have been upon entering the hall, just turned around and left without another word.

"Well that was …unexpected," said James as he watched the Great Hall doors shut and block the headmaster from view.

With evident expressions of relief, one with amused indifference, the other Marauders seemed to agree.

"Wonders over wonders, let them never cease to be," said Remus, who was not going to complain about their sudden luck.

"And I was already mentally packing my bags to go to my cell," said Sirius, who had changed back into his human form.

Harry just snorted and wrote down the next word: 'ridiculous.'

"Well, at least he's calm!" said Sirius, shaking his head, indicating his disbelief while he looked at Harry.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think he didn't care," he added before looking back at Remus.

The latter could only nod and agree.

"Well," said James after a while, "we might as well clean the place up a bit while we wait…we still have half an hour after all," he added, doing his best to ignore a pair of second years who were tugging on and dribbling all over his robes.

"Why bother?...we aren't finished yet," said Harry without looking up from the next crossword on his list.

The other Marauders looked at each other and came to a silent agreement.

"Er…Harry," said Remus awkwardly, "we agree it was fun...really we do…but…let's call it a day...ok?"

This time Harry did react, as his puzzle fell from his hands.

"What?" he asked incredulously, looking at them in surprise. He really had expected more from them. Fred and George would have been mortified.

"Er…we…think we did enough damage for one day…I mean…," said Remus before Sirius continued.

"We never meant to… well… bring Hogwarts to its knees…literally, but as you can see…," he trailed off.

"But what good is it pranking people if they can't even understand what's happening," said James as he looked around at their numerous victims.

Harry could see the reasoning behind that last statement.

"Well…of course we might as well wait until the potion wears off …but there is still so much to... do…."

Harry didn't finish: from the expressions on his fellow pranksters faces' he could see that they were all too serious. They really wanted to stop.

With a shake of his head and a deep sigh of disappointment Harry finally relented. "Ok, so be it," he said in a defeated voice.

James and Sirius walked up and put their arms around his shoulders.

"Now, now…there will always be another chance to prank them again," said James in a kind soothing voice.

"Besides, I think we made our point," said Sirius.

"Quite clearly, in fact," said Remus.

"This will go down into Hogwarts History," said James.

"The day the Marauders brought Hogwarts to its knees," said Remus.

"That's never been done before, quite an achievement, we should be proud of that," said Sirius.

"Hey, what's with the twin talk?" asked Harry. He now had a smile across his face.

"We're connected, have you forgotten?" said James.

"And it's called triplet talk," said Sirius.

"Oh right…that's true…," said Harry. He had forgotten about that.

"Quadruplet talk if you join in," said James.

"Well, let's clean the place up, shall we? Maybe the punishments won't be so bad then," said Remus as he looked around the hall.

"P…punishments…as in plural?" asked Sirius with slight uneasiness.

"Well they might expel us, though my bet's on detention for life, though luckily that will only be for the rest of the year," said Harry with a grin.

"Oh shite," the three Marauders said in unison.

"Don't worry, something tells me it won't be too bad," said Harry.

He would make sure of that, through obliviations or other means, he didn't really care.

One thing was for sure, he would not be in detention until the end of the year.

"Though I'd bet Hogwarts will be having a huge party after we leave," Harry added as he turned away from the group.

"We hope so, we really hope so," the three Marauders said. They were really nervous now.

None of them looked forward to the end of the remaining twenty minutes.

In that they all agreed. But what ever punishment they were to receive, they would accept. It was the Marauder way. If only Harry were to agree.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the Marauders were finished cleaning the hall (using magic) and were now waiting anxiously for the first of their victims to regain their sanity.

The only Marauder who didn't seem to care at all was Harry. He was once again busy with his wizarding crosswords.

He really found them intriguing. Wizarding crosswords, while similar to the Muggle type, had a few changes.

While you would simply guess the correct word or phrase in a Muggle crossword from a simple clue, the wizarding type actually let you interact with the puzzle.

Unlike its Muggle counterpart, each wizarding question or puzzle came complete with three advisor's: one which always told the truth, one which would always lie, and a third which would do both.

The problem was that all three advisors randomly changed their roles, so the one who may have helped you with a former puzzle would suddenly be misleading you in the next.

For each puzzle or question, the witch or wizard would be allowed to ask each advisor three questions. It was up to the witch or wizard to decide which of the three they would ask what question and consequently which of the three they would trust.

Harry was so entranced by the puzzle that he never noticed when the first victims regained their normal mental capabilities.

The first he noticed was when an enraged third year Ravenclaw started to cry out in alarm and revulsion when she realised that a fellow classmate was dribbling all over her.

That in itself would have been strange, but for her it was a mighty shock.

With a cry of outrage she swung at the offending student and punched her classmate in the face.

The same classmate, having just come round a second earlier, thought she was under attack and quickly hit back.

James, realising what was happening, quickly rushed forward to break the two students up but got punched before he could reach them by a very angry Severus Snape, who obviously…and for the most part rightly so…blamed the Marauder, for his wet and slimy robes.

James, for his troubles, tried to put his hands up in a sign of peace and tried to reason with his hated Slytherin enemy, but it was no good, for before he could even get a coherent word out of his bruised mouth, Sirius, always ready to defend his friends' honour, had already hit back.

Remus cried out in alarm as the three arch rivals continued to trade blows in the Muggle way and tried to stop them but neither would listen.

Quickly he pulled out his wand and tried to cast a Stupefy at the two but missed, Stunning another near by Slytherin instead.

The friends to the same Slytherin took this as a further grave insult to their house and rushed at Remus, who quickly tried to dodge and knocked into another nearby student who had just woken up from the potion.

That student, who had already been extremely anxious before the prank screamed out in alarm and out of reflex, gave the unsuspecting werewolf a kick.

At that direct moment all hell broke loose as more and more students from all four houses began to fight against each other.

It didn't take long until numerous spells and food of all sorts were flying all over the place.

The professor who came back to his senses first was Professor Blake, who froze in alarm as he saw what was happening.

_This was not in my job description,_ he thought just before he was knocked out by a stray plate of mash which hit him in the head.

By the time Minerva McGonagall woke up and regained her senses, the whole hall had already turned into a full scale war zone.

Multiple students from all houses were using the hall's tables as barricades and were busy trading curses and hexes back, forth, and forward across the hall and not all curses were light spells.

Most noticeably the Slytherins were using Darker and Darker curses the longer the battle took place.

Students were falling all over the place, and a lot were hurt by the time Minerva started to shout and attempt to regain control over the hall, but the battle had already reached the point of no return.

None of the four houses would listen to the frantic professors anymore, and before long multiple Stunners were sent towards them as well.

Minerva only had a split second to create a shield as seven Stunners smashed into her.

Miraculously her shield held and the Deputy Headmistress, now in a daze and in a heap on the floor, decided to retreat by crawling to the back of the hall, away from most of the fighting students.

She knew she wouldn't be much good if she were knocked out by a spell, stray or not.

She was just about to cast a spell of her own to 'attempt' to end this inter-house war when a sudden huge flash of white light of enormous density erupted through out, all over the whole hall.

Just as suddenly as the whole fight had started it had suddenly ended.

Everybody, including quite a few of the other professors, was laying Stunned on the floor. The sudden quietness of the hall was breathtaking.

Seeing that everything seemed to be over, Minerva, who was breathing heavily, took a moment to look for where the 'power spell' had come from and couldn't believe what she saw. For the next moment she just stared.

Harry, who was sitting lazily on his chair, his legs crossed, was still working on his latest crossword puzzle and wasn't even looking up from it. Around him scorch marks tattooed the surrounding walls.

He was acting as if nothing had happened and as if he didn't have a care in the world.

His wand was just barely poking out from underneath his crossword magazine and was emitting a small puff of steam from where the powerful spell had left the wand.

Minerva couldn't believe how calm he was, as if nothing had happened.

As if he simply didn't care or as if he hadn't even noticed that just seconds before a full scale brawl had taken place in the hall. It was as if he had even been bored.

For the next few minutes the whole hall was completely silent. Not a word was spoken, not a sound was made as they watched him. Only a few random moans from those who were waking up from the Stunner could be heard.

If it weren't for the broken tables, the spilled food, the smashed chairs, and other carnage, not to mention the numerous bruises and black-eyes of numerous faces and other body parts, you would have thought nothing had ever happened.

Now, Harry was used to having people stare at him (not that he liked it, as he hated it), but the sudden silence was greatly annoying him.

Sighing, he put his crossword onto his lap and gave a small yawn.

"What?" he asked. "Can't a person do his crosswords in peace…without being stared at?"

That broke the silence.

Minerva was suddenly brought back to the present, and pointing at the four Marauders, she screamed:

"YOU FOUR…TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE NOW!!

"THE REST OF THE STUDENT BODY WILL SERVE DETENTION EVERY EVENING FROM FIVE TO CURFEW FOR THE NEXT TWO WHOLE WEEKS!!….

"Those of you who aren't hurt, get up to your last classes…we are continuing with them whether it's the evening or not and we will continue into the night if we have to.

"The rest of you, and only if it's absolutely necessary… to the infirmary.

"NOW!" she screamed, completely red-faced in a very poisonous like voice, spit flying from her mouth.

The whole hall gulped. The sound could practically be heard. Even Peeves, who had come to watch the fight, was silent.

Never before in recorded history had they ever seen the professor so angry.

Most of the younger years were in tears, but the professor simply didn't care. She was absolutely furious.

Quickly everybody piled out of the hall. Nobody wanted to stay with the enraged professor longer than they absolutely had to.

The Marauders, except for Harry, were so afraid; they were completely white and shaking.

Harry, however, was still acting as if nothing had ever happened. Completely indifferent, he shrugged. Slowly he put his crossword magazine down and got up. He took a moment to stretch then made his way slowly towards the exit of the hall. By the time Harry reached the great hall doors, the other Marauders had already left it at a run.

All three of them had been very eager to escape from the stern stare of the angry witch as quickly as possible.

With a polite, "Good day!" Harry followed. Then he was gone.

He never noticed a small plate strike the door in the same place where he had stood just moments before.

* * *

Harry caught up with the other Marauders at the gargoyle which guarded the headmaster's office.

None of them were feeling very well. James and Remus were so white you couldn't see a trace of colour in their faces. Sirius was so white, you could swear he was transparent.

"Oh Harry, we're in for it now," said James solemnly; he was feeling very sick at that moment.

"We're going to be expelled," moaned Remus. He was looking very guilty and downtrodden.

"Do you think I can still stay with your family, James… there is no way I'm going back to my parents," said Sirius, who was worried that he might somehow have to go back to the Blacks, even though he knew they would never take him back. At least not unless they could gain something from it.

At the age of fourteen Sirius had run away from home, and had since then stayed with the Potters.

His former family, a pure Dark family, whose members had nearly all become Death Eaters, had been so furious with him that they had practically disowned him, all but officially. If it hadn't been for the Potters he would have been completely homeless.

"I don't know," said James. "I'm not even sure if they will even take ME back this summer," said James, who was looking very scared now. He didn't know what he would do if that were to happen.

"What about you, Harry," asked Remus as he looked at him.

"Oh…don't worry about me…I own a house not far from here…and since I'm the head of my family I'll be fine," Harry said offhandedly, even though he didn't own any house at all at this time (and was the only member of his so called family).

Sirius suddenly brightened up.

"Er…Harry…er…if we...er…if we get thrown out of our families…er…would it be ok if…we…er… could stay… with you?" he asked nervously and with considerable difficulty. Never the less, he had great hope in his eyes.

Harry was taken aback by the sudden question. This was not what he had expected.

It was like his greatest wish come true. He would have his father and his godfather living with him. It's all he had ever wanted. Ever since he could remember, he always wanted a loving family. Being an orphan could easily do that to you.

For a second he was tempted to let it all happen, but as quickly as the thought came, he squashed it again.

_NO…I have a job to do…they are not supposed to be expelled…this is not how it's supposed to happen,_ he reminded himself furiously.

_Besides, I have to make sure James and Lily marry or else I won't exist…they are not allowed to get expelled, or else it will never happen…._

_It just can't end this way… _

"Please!" Sirius begged, with his best puppy dog eyes.

The other Marauders were also listening in. They too didn't know what was going to happen next and wanted an option to fall back to if they needed it.

Harry's soul nearly broke into seven pieces as he saw his godfather, father, and godwolf beg him.

"Oh lads!" he said in a sad voice. "Of course you can come and stay with me…But it won't be necessary. Because they won't expel you…and you won't be disowned," he added quickly.

_Because I won't let it happen,_ he thought to himself fiercely.

The four didn't know how long they waited at the gargoyle. Not that they really cared.

In fact, they hoped the headmaster would never open up at all.

But as with everything in life, things never happen the way you'd want.

About one hour since Minerva had ordered them to the office, the professor herself arrived.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE," she screamed, still in a foul mood.

"We…er…we…" James started to say but couldn't continue.

Harry rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

"We are simply waiting for the headmaster to allow us into his office," he said quietly and calmly.

Minerva harrumphed and stepped forward.

"Well then, let's not keep him waiting…Devils Fizzlesticks!" she said out loud, but the gargoyle wouldn't move.

Minerva frowned.

"Devils Fizzlesticks!" she said again, more sternly, but like before, the gargoyle remained motionless.

For the next few minutes, Minerva tried to make the gargoyle move aside, but like before, it remained motionless.

"Fine!" she spat out. "I don't understand why it won't move…that IS the password…I think," she said in an obvious annoyed voice.

Then she sighed.

"Very well…we will have this meeting tomorrow…now, off with you to the rest of your classes," she said. "Not that it will do you much good though…it's not like you're going to be here much longer anyway," she mumbled.

She had a very disappointed look on her face. Shaking her head, she looked at her students. "To think I had such large hopes for you," she added.

"Well… of you go," she said and away she went.

"That does not sound good," said Remus, who seemed to have the start of new tears in his eyes.

"You heard what she said…it's clear that we're are about to be expelled," Remus said bitterly.

"No, you won't be…you'll see…" said Harry. "They won't do that for a prank…even if it ended up as a full school brawl…right?

"Besides, we never wanted the fight to happen…that was an accident…they can't expel us for that," Harry said in another attempt to reassure his friends. "Now, let's keep our heads low and get to class. Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be just fine…well sure, we'll get detention but we always knew that…"

The others just nodded and a few minutes later they were gone.

* * *

It was twelve o'clock, midnight, when the last class finally finished.

Apart from being dead tired, everybody was extremely angry and were giving the Marauders furious death stares.

Nobody had been able to do any homework that night, having only just finished their day's supply of classes and everybody was in a very sour mood.

"Now I kind of wish we hadn't done those pranks," said Sirius miserably from their secluded place in the common room.

None of the Marauders had been allowed into the actual dorms by their dorm mates (just the common room, about which they had no choice).

Only Harry could still move around freely and that was only because he hadn't been a Marauder for that long.

Nobody seemed to fully believe that he had been the one who had masterminded the pranks and they were all willing to forgive him this once, thinking that he had only followed the 'real' Marauders and acted along.

Harry wasn't going to complain about that though…who would?

Even though Harry had been the one who had implemented the pranks that day, nobody seemed to realise that or care.

That and the fact that he was immensely popular with the student body, from his position as the unbeatable Seeker, Quidditch captain, and the fact that he always stood up for everybody against school bullies and their ilk, ( and the fact that he was founder and head of their house) saved him that day.

The fact that their house wasn't able to lose house points also helped, since it already was impossible to get more detentions than they already had.

Harry could have slept in the dorm had he wished to do so, but that just wouldn't have been fair, so he decided to spend the rest of the night with the rest of the Marauders, though he did bring a few duvets and pillows down from the dorms for his fellow Marauders to use.

It wasn't long before they all fell asleep. Little did they realise, the shock the next day would bring.

That same night, high in the Heavens, two immensely powerful beings, one known as the Alpha and Omega, The Holiness, the all powerful God, the other, his alter ego, the Devil, Satan…Teufel….Diable….Diabolus, name him what you will… were meeting, together in a lonely room.

Both had been planning this night for quite a while. It was not often that these two would get together and meet…nearly never in fact, unless it was for a grand council meeting.

But for once they thought it would be nice…to have some fun.

FUN?

Yes...indeed…they were about to have some fun …for tonight they were going to prank…like only Gods can prank! It was time to lock, rock, die, and roll.

Hogwarts…forget the Marauders, they are your lowest concern, for tonight you will know a bigger treat for the Gods are coming to school.

It would be a peaceful night at Hogwarts that night…too peaceful in fact.

Only death could be that peaceful, and that's a fact.

For that night, death came, death saw…and death conquered all.

Temporarily perhaps…but who cares about that flaw.

* * *

Harry woke up very early that morning and groaned as he remembered what had happened the last day.

Today he and the other Marauders were going to meet their fiery transfigurations professor and the old senile coot in his office to decide on what punishments they would receive for their fun the last night.

He really wasn't looking forward to this at all, but he knew it had to be done.

_Well…looks like I'll be busy obliviating people quite a lot today_, he thought as he lay on the couch in the dragon common room.

_And then there is always the Peter dilemma to deal with too_…he reminded himself.

_Wouldn't it be better if I just made everybody think that he had really gone home and just not come back…it would save me a lot of trouble, you know. And the Marauders would be happier too._

_Yes, I might just do that… _Harry thought dreamily, lazily as he lay there dreaming.

A few seconds later he dozed off again.

He was still dreaming when suddenly_:_

_**(School Magical Intercom)**_

_ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS!_

_THIS IS THE HEADMASTER SPEAKING._

_DUE TO…UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES ALL CLASSES ARE HENCEFORTH CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE._

_AN IMMEDIATE CURF…. I … PLA…_

Albus…what's…w..?

_OH NO..!_

NOT YOU TOO!!

Click!

_**(End School Magical Intercom)**_

.

"What the hell!" said Harry, who was staring at the ceiling.

"What was that about?" asked James, who had been woken up by the racket.

"OH…lads…lads…. LADS!!"

"WHAT? What's up with you, Sirius?" asked James, alarmed by his friend's sudden hysteria.

"Y..y..you're…we are…all...ghosts…!"

"WHAT!"

_**School Magical Intercom**_

ATTENTION ATTENTION!

This is Professor Sinastra ..I am…er…currently taking over the role of Headmistress while Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are out of action due to…oh for goodness's sake…(in a panicky voice) WILL THE FOUR ALL TIME CURSED MARAUDERS PLEASE REPORT TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE THIS INSTANT!!

Click!

_**End of School Magical Intercom**_

"What did you do this time, Harry?" asked James with a horrified and concerned expression on his face.

"Aren't we in enough trouble all ready as we speak," Remus added nervously, as he looked at himself in a near by mirror.

"Cool! Amazing! We are all ghosts, you could have picked a better time for it though…How did you do it??" asked Sirius, who was looking at himself with fascinated eyes, having calmed down again. Only he didn't seem to care that they were literally all dead: He was even beginning to enjoy this new experience.

"Yes, it's an extraordinary prank…and usually I'd be flabbergasted…but…..It's all fine and good, amazing really, but…could you please put us back now," James nearly whined.

He was too young to die.

He really wasn't in the mood for pranks at that moment, not when he was in danger of being kicked out of the school anyway.

For once Harry didn't know what to say. For once he was totally befuddled. He didn't have a clue what to do. Nor what had just happened.

"Er…lads…I didn't do anything."

"Ha, ha, ha…as if we would believe that. Come on, Harry, we know…you…a…OH!! You are serious… aren't you…"

Harry simply nodded his ghostly head.

"Oh… damn!"

* * *

Thirty minutes later the Marauders were floating in the headmasters office.

Inside, with them, all wearing identical furious faces, were all of the professors.

"Well …what do you have to say about this?" said the ghost Professor Dumbledore.

He looked absolutely sick, tired, exhausted and extremely subdued.

"Well...er…we…er…," James tried to say. What was he supposed to say.

Before he could continue, Dumbledore sighed.

"Listen…let's call it a day and end this now, shall we…I'll make you a deal. Seeing as none of us have a clue what just happened…and I don't want to be dead...not just yet… how about you just fix this…unfortunate problem…and seeing how it was all supposed to be a prank, no matter how far you all took it…"

He sighed again.

"I'm sure the other professors will agree with me on this. If you agree to stop this immediately I will not expel you and I'll just give you the same punishment as the rest of the school."

"WHAT?" a few of the other professors screamed.

"You can't be serious, Albus…after what they did!" Minerva roared.

"They disrupted classes for the whole day!" said another.

"They incited a full school brawl," said a third.

"They humiliated your brother by making hi… m…app…."

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore roared.

"They turned us into ghosts," said another professor meekly, quietly.

"I said, silence!" Dumbledore said again.

"Now…if any of you have a suggestion how to reverse this…prank," he spat out the last word, "then let's hear it."

Everybody kept quiet.

"That's what I thought."

Releasing another tired sigh, Dumbledore turned back to the Marauders.

"But they are right…therefore…I will add one more term to our agreement."

Now in a very formal voice Dumbledore continued:

"In exchange for our forgiveness and benevolence, which believe me when I say it you don't deserve... that we the staff of Hogwarts agree to not expel any of you and only give you the two weeks detention with your fellow housemates for your crimes we demand that you:

"ONE…Unconditionally remove this and any other pranks which you may have used during the last two days."

"Deal!" said the Marauders without hesitation, even though they didn't have a clue how to solve their latest problem.

"TWO…you'll apologise officially in front of the whole school at a full school assembly…as well as write a ten page assay on why one should not prank the school"

Hearing this James and Sirius cringed.

"Deal," Harry answered.

"…And finally ...THREE…that the Marauders will be herewith and hence forth be DISBANDED and not one further prank will be committed for the rest of your time here at Hogwarts."

The Marauders gasped and cried out in dismay.

"Do we have a deal?" Dumbledore asked with a victorious smirk.

"I…er… presume… we can talk about this before we decide...right?" Harry asked.

"NO!…I want your decision right now," Dumbledore answered sternly.

"Oh damn…well… in that case…we…"

"Accept," said the other three Marauders in unison, though reluctantly.

Anything was better than expulsion.

"There you have it…we accept," Harry repeated quickly.

"Wonderful," said Dumbledore with his huge twinkle back in his eyes.

The other professors gasped in complete wonder at the recognition of what had just happened.

Had they really just seen the end of the infamous Marauders? They couldn't believe it, but they could definitely hope so. Hogwarts history had just been made.

Harry looked at his former Marauders and they nodded.

"Ok…please give us some time to remove the pranks…there are so many of them that we may need awhile." Harry just hoped he could find a solution to their current problem.

_Yes …for the ghost one we will,_ he thought. He had already found out that he could touch things like Peeves could…so hopefully…

"Very well…we will give you up to two days…seeing as it is the weekend tomorrow…however, no longer," said Dumbledore.

Harry nodded then smiled.

"Just do us a favour sir... put this into _Hogwarts, a History_… Ok?"

"Sure," Dumbledore replied, his twinkle back in full force. "As if I could stop it…it's the least I'll do."

"With your permission," Harry said, motioning towards the door.

"Dismissed!"

A few seconds later the former Marauders had left the office.

"PARTY TIME," a few professors screamed while the rest cheered.

"What? Without food?!" a single voice declared, but was ignored.

* * *

A few minutes later a new message came through the school intercom:

Every student who had listened to it that day, could have sworn to have heard music, cheering, and dancing in the background.

"Attention, attention, all wonderful students …," the voice sang.

"Oh it's such a wonderful morning, oh what a wonderful daaay.

"In celebration to his wonders Fridaaay…

"ALL remaining classes have been cancelled todaaay…

"Go ahead and enjoy yourselves, little sweeties…YIPP…"

CLICK!

"Ok, now that was just plain weird," said James as they floated away.

"What do you expect, they defeated the infamous Marauders," said Remus sadly.

"Did they?" asked Sirius.

"That remains to be seen…I'm off to find a way to reverse the ghostly effect…see you later," said Harry

And away he went.

* * *

In the Heavens the 'other' Marauders were looking down with sad eyes.

"I can't believe it's all over now," said ethereal Sirius with ghostly tears of emotion in his eyes.

"I know…I know, an era comes to an end," said ethereal James, his arm around his friend in a comforting way.

"I can't believe they weren't expelled," said the spirit of Hermione, who was standing a few meters away.

"Nah…it's Harry we are talking about here…they'd never expel him…besides, he's the man on the mission," said Ron

"So true," said Hermione just before they too walked away.

A few meters further away, God and Devil were watching the fun.

Only God seemed to be laughing…the devil was not having much fun.

"I can not believe you used me," said the Devil…

"You knew this would happen…you knew the Marauders would end tonight if we did this…you…you…

"Oh …leave me alone," he said as he walked away in dismay, leaving God behind to laugh for the rest of the day.

With a flick of his godly hand he ended the prank, the prank which ended the Marauders.

The greatest prank of Hogwarts history.

* * *

That night all over Hogwarts castle, cheers of relief and delight could be heard for the whole night.

Parties were held in every dorm and they were truly wild.

History had been made. The Marauders had pranked Hogwarts into disarray.

The day would go down into Hogwarts history as the day Hogwarts was brought to its knees, the day it begged for mercy, the day the Marauders won and lost it all in one clear swipe.

The price had been high …the royalties great, but in the end it was all too clear.

From that day onwards the Marauders were disbanded, and an era had come to an end, an era which would lay dormant until the day, when two red heads of the Weasley clan, came to Hogwarts to reclaim the Marauders' way.

Doom, greatest of the Marauders five, would be there to meet them, greet them and welcome them to stay.


	13. Countdown To Murder

**Harry Potter, Life's A Prophecy**

**Chapter 13**

**Countdown to Murder**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Standard disclaimers apply.**  
**

**Chapter Beta'd by:** RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

The parties all over Hogwarts that very night were a little subdued by the fact that everybody had detention for the next two weeks.

Never the less, even with the apparent doom of the outstanding detentions the Dragon dorm was still filled with tons of hyperactive house-elves, which were quite busy carrying drinks and meals of all sorts on plates to equally hyperactive students.

Even the younger, more innocent 'Dragolets' of the first four years were allowed to stay up to enjoy the festivities until late, though that was probably only due to two main reasons, maybe three, and only in the Dragon dormitories of Hogwarts.

One was the fact that the Dragon dorm had as of yet no official Head of House.

The unofficial head, the great Harry of the Dragon himself, had no problems with his charges staying up late. Why should he?…he was, after all, still a student himself.

Surprisingly he, like James, still had his badge, not that he would have cared too much if he had lost it but somehow he had a feeling that he would still have missed it.

Instead, the self-acclaimed fifth founder installed a few Silencing Charms on walls and key areas, successfully keeping the noise level down and therefore an angry caretaker or professor out as well.

Indeed Harry was more than happy to let his fellow Dragons have their fun if that meant that he, the newest of the now former Marauders and ironically the chief instigator of the pack, would completely, excluding the fact that everybody still had detentions, get away with what he had done.

His fellow pranksters had not been so lucky to say the least.

James, Sirius, and Remus had all experienced the unaccustomed experience of being shunned by their own house the night before when they had been ordered into exile to the isolated realms of the common room couches, where they had indeed been quite lonely.

Quite unusual for the usually loved and well respected pranksters who didn't like that at all.

Each had been sentenced to sleep in the common room rather than in their own beds by fairly angry dorm mates who had taken it upon themselves to be the judge, jury, and executioners for that night.

Not that sleeping in the common room was in any way an uncomfortable ordeal, far from it. Beside the fire and with magical couches which adapted themselves to their occupant's dearest wishes it had been quite comfortable, but every single one of the outcasts had been in complete agreement that they would rather have had their mates than their infamy.

Thankfully the pranks of the last few days seemed to have been forgotten over the previous night as they were, at least for now, able to rejoin into the fun.

Around two in the morning, Harry excused himself and retired to his dorm to go to bed.

Before climbing into his previously abandoned bed to sleep he cast several Silencing Charms in order to reduce the noise of the rowdy crowd of partying dorm mates in the common room to a bare minimum.

Below in the common room James and Sirius were retelling their, or rather his, latest pranks of the day as if it was their own, while Remus just shook his head as he listened.

Harry still couldn't fully believe that it had been he who had instigated must of the pranks that day. Fred and George would have been proud. In the past he would never have done such a thing. It was quite an achievement to say the least.

Now that he thought back to it, the rest of the Marauders had only helped.

With thoughts of the day's pranks in mind, it didn't take long before he soon fell into Morphius's blissful arms of sleep.

Nobody seemed to notice...or care that one of their number was missing and only a small part of him realised that he had actually changed and was no longer the innocent young boy he had once been.

* * *

Harry awoke in his bed and looked out of the windows.

Through the early rays of morning sunlight he could see that it was raining heavily outside and the wind seemed to be blowing strongly.

_What a morning,_ he thought as he shook his head at the sight.

Shivering slightly, he took a few more minutes to shake of his morning laziness before he unwillingly moved his right leg out from under his warm blanket and slowly made his way out of bed to take care of his usual morning routine.

Finished with that, he walked back into the dorm only to be surprised that everybody seemed to have already left. Thinking about it, Harry couldn't remember if anybody had been there when he had first woken up.

_Hmmm, that's strange…would have at least thought they would have problems getting up today, this morning, after that party last night, _he thought as he put on his everyday robes and slowly made his way down towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

He had tried to look at his watch but found that he couldn't find it, which again was strange as he usually never took it off. He even had it on during showers since it was waterproof. It was one of the only items he ever owned before he came to Hogwarts and he would usually never willingly go anywhere without it.

Shrugging slightly, he made a mental note to look for it later as he continued along his way.

The whole corridor seemed to be gloomily dark and silent. Not a single sound or person could be seen or heard at all.

_Where is everybody?_ he thought, becoming slightly nervous as he neared the doors of the Great Hall. He wasn't even able to hear a sound from the hall itself. Usually at this time the halls would be filled with students on their way to the hall for breakfast.

Slowly he opened the door, first a small bit then fully, and stepped in.

The whole hall was totally empty. Nobody was around at all.

Now becoming extremely nervous, Harry called out, "Is anybody here?"

No answer, he received no answer at all, not even the slightest murmur.

"Is anybody here?" he called out again a little louder this time, but just as before only the faint whisper of the wind outside and the rain pelting against the windows could be heard.

Looking around, Harry noticed with a surprise that the Dragon table seemed to have disappeared.

Perplexed, Harry took his old seat at the Gryffindor table and almost immediately a selection of different foods and drinks started to appear in front of him.

"Guys…if this is a prank I'm not finding it funny," he said after a while, but as before the only response he got was the gentle whisper of the wind outside and ever increasing drops of rain which could now be heard as they pelted across the roof.

Shrugging slightly, not knowing anything better to do at that moment, Harry started to eat his solitary breakfast for one.

It was most likely the loneliest meal he had ever had in his entire life.

Even when he had stayed at the Dursleys' he had always had one of them breathing down his neck giving him a disapproving glare. True, they never spoke to him if they could avoid it, unless it was to order him around which they always loved to do, but even so, at least they had been company, even if it had been exceedingly bad company. Even his yearly, 'happy birthday' beating, which he had always hated like the Egyptian plague, was more welcome at that moment than this eerie quietness. At least for that he knew what to expect.

Finally finished, he rose to leave and soon found himself spending the whole day searching for other students. He even went up to the Headmaster's office, but found that the room was bare. All the portraits seemed to have disappeared over night and every single item was gone.

At this moment he was beginning to panic but calmed himself just as quickly.

"Ok…that's it everybody…you have had your revenge…please…I promise I won't prank you anymore…," he said, now frightened.

Still he heard no answer. No sign of a satisfied giggle, even the sound of the wind and rain was suddenly gone.

Sighing heavily to himself, Harry took his leave and left the office. Slowly he made his way back to the hall.

Suddenly he heard a faint ghostly whisper.

"Harry… Harry…I'm waiting for you…come to me, Harry."

Not expecting a single sound, Harry yelped in alarm and would have jumped out of his skin if it had been possible. With a flash his wand was in his hand.

"Who's there?" he called out, now extremely frightened and nervous.

"Harry! Please…I'm waiting for you…why do you always keep me waiting," the ghostly voice came again, slightly louder this time before fading away. It sounded quite sad.

Breathing in deeply, Harry took a moment to steady his steadily deteriorating nerves.

"Lads…listen, I'm very sorry for the last few days…truly I am…I…I promise if this is what this is all about…I'll never prank again…I…"

"Come to me, Harry…You're nearly there…I'm waiting for you," the voice said again.

Now, Harry usually prided himself on having steel nerves and not being frightened easily, but at that moment he started to shake in fear.

"Please…whoever you are, please stop this," he nearly whined into the empty corridor, but stopped himself before he could.

Then just as suddenly as the sound had come it was gone.

Now severely shaken, Harry took another moment to clear his thoughts. He found he was beginning to hyperventilate. Extremely disgusted with the way he was behaving, he mentally scolded himself and physically pulled himself back together.

He hadn't seen a single soul for the whole day, not even a single ghost… not even Peeves, which was odd.

After a while his breathing quietened down again and he resumed his walk around the school.

Suddenly the whole area around him changed. The walls started to haze and change shape.

Harry let out a scream and fell cowering to the ground, his hands held out above himself as if to ward off a blow. His experiences so far that day had turned him into a nervous wreck.

This was torture using fear as the weapon at its greatest.

The hall continued to change for what felt like a few minutes until it morphed into what looked like an exact replica of the Great Hall.

Then he heard noises. Tons of noises.

The whole hall seemed to be packed with people. All of them wore Death Eater robes and masks.

Harry froze, his mouth wide open, eyes wide with fear, then just as suddenly as the fear had come, hundreds of hours of training kicked in and he pointed his wand right at the nearest cloaked person.

A normal person would have panicked, lost all hope at that moment, and fled, but not Harry. Harry, who had been trained to accept fear like a friend or even an ally stood still, courage and utmost determination radiating from his face as his training struck in. Even so he was very frightened, white-faced and shaking.

This was, with out a doubt, one of the worst imaginable scenarios possible anybody could find themselves in. Probably the worst.

He was alone, outnumbered, enemy's on all sides, he didn't have a clue what was happening and if the situation didn't improve quickly, he was soon to be in a lot of pain.

"What do you want…? What did you do with everybody?" he called out in a loud commanding voice. It was the voice of a fearless leader who new his last moment was near at last.

But all the Death Eaters seemed to ignore him. Then just as suddenly, they turned around to face him and started to laugh. The whole hall started to laugh, point at him, then laugh some more while at the same time hundreds of dementors floated into the hall from various holes in the roof of the hall.

Not able to take it any more, Harry said a curse pointing his wand at one of the intruders, but to his complete horror the bolt of magic simply passed right through the cloaked figure as if he wasn't even there.

They all continued to laugh, completely undisturbed as if nothing had happened at all and Harry felt himself weaken dramatically from the surrounding dementors.

Now totally at his wit's end and quickly losing all of his remaining hope, Harry turned to run, to escape, any way at all, but just as he swerved around another larger figure, also covered in black and about twice the normal size, grabbed his robes.

Slowly the Death Eater lifted him up off the ground. It was as if he didn't weigh a single gram.

Harry started to struggle against the man, but couldn't break free. No matter what he tried he just couldn't break free from the iron grip.

The laughing in the hall became louder and the more he seemed to struggle the more difficult it became to move.

Harry had never felt so much fear before in his entire life; nothing he had ever felt, no situation he had ever been in before even came close, to the fear and overwhelming despair he felt at that moment. Before long he couldn't move at all anymore, he was completely paralyzed with fear.

His wand and magic forgotten, he started to gasp for air as the Death Eater tightened his grip around his neck, then just as suddenly Harry felt himself flying across the room.

Smashing into a wall near by, he gasped as pain swept through him in waves from the impact. Slowly, painfully, he slid to the ground.

He suddenly felt a particular wetness below him but ignored it. He simply didn't care anymore.

The Death Eater walked over to him slowly and picked him up once more.

Harry was much too frightened to think clearly and much too dazed to move.

"Well…isn't that a sight," the Death Eater said out loud. "The great Harry Potter defeated and weak…how sad! How will you ever defeat the Great Dark Lord? How will you save your friends? Will you let them die? Will you let them sacrifice themselves for you like your father …or your mother? Will you let them die for you like….Cedric?

"Or…what about …."

Suddenly a few dementors parted and a body which looked like Lily's appeared right beside them. It was covered with deep gashes and was very white…it was clear she was dead.

"Or maybe…Ginny," the voice continued after a short pause.

"NOOOOOO!" Harry screamed and shot a wandless curse at the Death Eater.

Surprisingly, this time it connected. The curse was so strong that it simply blew the Death Eaters body to pieces, leaving only the Death Eater's head behind, suspended in mid air.

Slowly the head fell into Harry hands and the mask fell off.

Before he could stop himself Harry looked down at the severed head and into its face…and then he screamed…a horrible banshee-like scream…. it was himself, he was staring down at his own face.

Then everything went fuzzy as he realised a dementor was hovering over him.

Struggling wildly and casting patronus spells all around him he felt his soul leaving him, or at least that's what he thought it was…

His patronuses didn't seem to be working. Slowly he weakened as nightmare thoughts took over until finally all went dark.

* * *

Meanwhile at that direct moment in the Dragon dorms James and Sirius were sleeping in their beds after a long night of fun and had finally managed to get about three hours of undisturbed blissful sleep when all of a sudden Harry started to scream and violently struggle in his bed.

Both of them quickly left their beds to see if he was all right and if possible to help their friend and fellow comrade but had to step back quickly and dive for cover when with a mighty crack a spell left his hands and smashed into a nearby night stand, blowing it apart and sending parts wood and other materials all over the dorm.

Not really knowing what to do, but thinking it wiser to retreat, they decided to barricade themselves behind one of their beds, which they began to use as cover, and were soon joined by their remaining dorm mates, or at least all of those which had made it from their beds in time.

One had fallen out of his bed after hearing the mighty crack of the spell and after realising what was happening had slowly crawled to safety, doing his best to keep his head and buttocks down for fear that they might be hit by a stray spell.

Another had simply performed a spectacular dive, head first into another bed only to fall off the other side, taking the other student with him.

One who had not been so lucky was blasted across the room where he now lay still on the ground, clearly stunned but seemed otherwise all right.

Spell after spell left Harry's hands as he continued to struggle and everybody was keeping their heads down as multiple spells shot over them and across the room, leaving scorch marks on the walls.

Finally what seemed like hours but was in fact only about ten minutes of continuous casting, after a spectacular display of patronuses which seemed to come directly from his hands and not from a wand, though nobody really seemed to notice, Harry's spells began to get weaker and he soon began to quiet down…

Seeing that it was now safe enough to move, James and Sirius started to cautiously edge closer to Harry's bed, risking only a second or two to glance at and admire one of the many surviving corporeal stag patronuses which was prancing around the room searching for its none existing prey before edging closer to Harry's bed. Each was ready to dive for cover or cast shields at a moment's notice while another student ran off to summon a member of the staff.

* * *

With a sudden strangled gasp Harry shot up in his bed. He was screaming wildly and his hands and legs were flying all over the place, hitting and punching anything they could find.

"Ouch," a familiar voice said as he hit straight into the person's face, breaking the person's nose. A second later a few hands grabbed him and held him down.

"It's all right, Harry, It's only a dream…," said a voice near by calmly, kindly.

It was James's.

After a while Harry calmed down.

The whole dorm was full with people of all years staring at him with wide-open eyes.

Some seemed fairly nervous with white faces, while others again were simply relieved that he had finally woken up.

"Tha' mus' have be'n som' dream, mate," said Sirus with difficulty. He was looking at him warily as if ready to retreat at a moments, no seconds notice. He was clutching his nose, blood dribbling down his hands. He stood a few meters away, beside a completely obliterated nightstand and countless gashes and blackened scorched marks on a wall near by.

"You blew it to bits," James answered, following Harry's gaze to the disintegrated nightstand. He seemed to be missing some hair.

"Just stay calm, everything will be ok. The headmaster and the nurse are on their way," said another voice.

_ Oh, you have no idea… _Harry thought to himself dismally and with a huge sigh of relief he let his head drop back onto his bed.

_What a morning!_

* * *

It didn't take long thereafter for the headmaster and the over protective school nurse to arrive, but they soon realised that Harry had only experienced a rather, above average, violent nightmare, which was saying something due to the multiple burn marks on the walls nearby.

Seeing that there wasn't much they could do, they left him quietly after a short while with only a simple order to take it easy for the day, call over to the infirmary later on for a check up, and to otherwise try to get up as it was morning time.

After rolling his eyes at the comment, Harry did that which he thought he had already done previously: get ready for the day.

A quick dé jà vu shower later he was once again the usual happy 7th year Dragon student who was happier than usual to see his friends waiting for him.

_This is more like it,_ he thought as he walked down towards breakfast, this time with his friends in tow.

The dream quickly became a niggling, nagging memory in his mind, before it slowly disappeared into the abysses of his subconscious. But a person does not just simply forget such an experience, even if it had only been a dream, it was never truly forgotten.

* * *

That same night Harry decided to tie up one of his loose ends.

As soon as everybody else was once again deemed asleep in their dorms, Harry silently got out of bed and left the dormitories.

As soon as he was out of the safety of the dorms he teleported out of Hogwarts to an isolated farm in the northern highlands of Scotland.

He had researched the location of the farm from a book called _'Family Seats of Ancient, Old and Otherwise Well- off Pureblood Wizarding Families,'_ and he had been pleasantly surprised to see that the Pettigrews' residence had not yet been placed under the Fidelius Charm, which would otherwise have made it Unplottable, meaning that it otherwise couldn't have been found and would not have appeared on any maps.

The Fidelius could, of course, be removed by a spell, but…he still wouldn't have been able to know where to cast the spell.

However, as mentioned, the farm, which was called 'The Pettigrew Retreat,' home to the late Peter Pettigrew and his unsuspecting parents, had not yet been placed under the charm.

Harry had been pleased to find out that when he checked where the Potter residence would have been, all he saw was a message stating 'unknown due to Fidelius Charm, or similar'. At least that was before it started to appear in front of his eyes a few seconds later. Since he already knew where it was, having been there when he was one, he wasn't really surprised. What he was surprised about however was that there were also two other properties which he had not known about. Maybe he would visit them when his mission was finally over.

Since Peter had died in… rather questionable circumstances to say the least, Harry was here to simply alter a few minds so that the parents of the rat would not come out and ask any undesirable questions.

Questions which would be better off left unanswered, as once summer came at the end of that year, they would otherwise jeopardise his mission and with that the safety of the whole future world.

Harry had chosen this night to alter their minds accordingly to suit his murderous needs and make it so that Peter had been ordered home by them in response to an increase of Death Eater activity, which would have been quite common in the current time period.

While it was indeed uncommon at the time to take children out of Hogwarts, as most parents would have preferred to have their sons and daughters taught at the school, it was not unheard of for some to have them taught at home in the relative safety of the parents' protection by a specially hired instructor or a family member, usually the family's head, who was usually always the most powerful person of said family.

_Strange how things change_, he pondered as he thought back to the panics of his time in the future where everybody was too afraid to send their children back instead.

As it were, this time it would have gone wrong, horribly wrong.

As far as what Peter's parents were going to remember, they did indeed order their son home after they found out about the increased Death Eater activity, but, on the way Peter was brutally attacked by said Death Eaters and killed, unfortunate for them, but unavoidable and now as far as the world was going to be concerned the sad but undeniable truth.

Once the minds of the parents had been erased of sensitive information, the headmaster's mind would then be altered accordingly to coincide with the new story. That would be the easy part. But first it was the parents' turn.

Just before midnight, Harry left the relative safety of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and teleported to the borders of the Pettigrew retreat, home of the Pettigrews.

Careful not to teleport onto the property itself, he appeared at the outskirts of the ancient residence.

He had been fairly sure that the Pettigrews, an old wizarding family in their own rights and thus fairly paranoid of any intrusion, would have installed countless protective charms, traps and other security measures to protect their property and therefore also by default themselves.

While Harry was sure that most of them would not have had any affect on him (he didn't really use skills normally classified as human, e.g. his teleport or phasing skills), Harry still didn't want to risk alerting them untimely and so allowing them to escape before he could reach them.

For that Harry had a... well not a simple, but rather a highly effective answer.

In fact it was anything but simple. Some of his special powers were very difficult to control and extremely dangerous and nearly always fatal if done wrong.

Thinking back, Harry remembered just how many times he had messed up in Hell while practicing his new skills.

Luckily for him he had already been dead at the time as a mistake would usually have killed him.

As soon as Harry had successfully re-materialised, he took one look at the house that harboured the senior Pettigrews, his intended targets, before he started to phase.

Knowing the dangers of phasing, he did so with extreme caution. Any security measurements the Pettigrews may have taken would not be able to detect him, as while phased, Harry was not physically present in the world, but rather in a sort of flux state between two separate dimensions, the current one and another without crossing over or even seeing into the next. There were two levels of phasing. One where he could be seen and one where he could not be seen. In both cases Harry would be able to walk through solid objects like he wasn't even there and in both he would not be able to be hit while phased. However while phased he also would not be able to attack or touch objects either. Also, the more invisible he became the more difficult and dangerous the process. While phasing was very useful for sneaking up on people he should only be done sparingly.

As it was all of the security measures the Pettigrews may have installed to protect them from intruders, like Harry, proved to be totally ineffective as Harry simply walked through them all and into the house, passing right through the front door as if they weren't even there, which for him of course it wasn't.

It was as if a ghost had walked though a wall, and before Harry knew it he was looking down at the two sleeping figures of the Pettigrews while they slept peacefully in their beds.

His eyes glowing eerily a neon green in the darkness of the room, the effects of his hunters sight which let him see perfectly in the dark, he re-phased back into normal space. Harry took another step forward until he was standing right in front of them, right above their sleeping forms and took out his wand.

Two silent Obliviations and altered memories later and Harry was once again on his way out, first by phase, then once more by teleportation. Nobody ever knew he had ever been there, least of all the Pettigrews, who slept on merrily in their untroubled sleep… at least until the morning when they would wake up to a very nasty surprise.

Now it was on to the headmaster, for his turn and then, to bed, child's play, if performed by the right person and Harry was definitely that.

* * *

The next day went as normal, as normal as a usual day at Hogwarts could be considered to be. That is, if a Hogwarts school day could ever be expressed as normal.

But amongst the various faulty charms and hexes taught in class, the numerous biting, student mauling fanged plants taught in Herbology, or the loud ever-exploding leaking cauldrons in Potions it was just like Hogwarts was supposed to be …simply magical.

Nothing else of interest happened until that very same evening:

With the impending first Hogsmeade visit of the year, many students could be seen busily making plans for what they would do for that day…and further more, who would be going with whom, as due to the new security precautions in place, none were allowed to go alone.

One of these people was a fiery red-headed Head Girl named Lillian (Lily) Rose Evans.

Nothing too special about that, perhaps, not too special at all.

But what was special about her was that, for one, she was destined to become, unknowingly of course, the mother of an extremely powerful dragon, Harry d'Dragonheart himself and secondly that she seemed to be having extreme difficulties finding a date.

Due to the fact that the professors had forbidden singles to go to Hogsmeade on their own, again due to the ever-increasing presence and threat of the rising Death Eaters, she was quite in jeopardy of not being allowed to go at all.

But why was that?

Couldn't she have just been able to tag along with a few friends or find a date?

She was after all, a stunningly pretty, exceedingly intelligent young witch and it was not that she didn't have any friends… far from it.

Indeed, the fact remained that she had once been voted most dashing witch of Hogwarts by three quarters of the school, namely by the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws, and while it was true that she couldn't take any Slytherins because she was what some considered to be dirty blood, or rather a 'Mudblood,' she still had these three quarters of the school to choose from.

So, such a girl shouldn't have had any problems finding a date or some friends to go out with, right?

WRONG!

That would have been the case, had a rich, powerful, and extremely influential Gryffindor named James Potter not forcefully forbidden anybody else but him to take her on that date, nor any of her friends to hang out with her for that day under the threat and promise of serious consequences in the form of some rather vicious pranks on those who disobeyed his wishes. (Even though the Marauders were about to be officially disbanded)

Usually this wouldn't have impressed people too much, least of all her loyal close friends, but that fact, combined with the fact that Harry, the most dangerous student in the school (if not person in the entire world) had also cast an altered Notice-Me-Not-for-a-Date Charm on her (his own creation).

This charm insured that she would neither have a date nor some friends for the day, unless it was with one of them or they were unable to go anyway. Those who wouldn't or couldn't go to Hogsmeade were unaffected by the charm.

So it was that Lily, hottest hogling of Hogwarts, was set up for a rather hectic but also quiet night in the dorms.

Hectic as in she needed to find a date (or some friends to tag along with). Quiet because she couldn't find one.

Who would have been better than a fellow Dragon, named Harry, to change that?

* * *

**#That night, Dragon Dorm common room, before the Hogsmeade Weekend **

"Why won't anybody ask me out for a date?" asked Lily loudly to one of her best female friends, Janice.

"It isn't usually this difficult," she nearly screamed out in complete frustration.

There was only one day left to go before the students would start to go into Hogsmeade.

Time was running out and she knew it. Last year she had already had a date, two months before the big day… this time though…

Her friend could only shrug. She had not managed to get her Hogsmeade permission forms signed, so she couldn't go anyway. She also couldn't understand why Lily seemed to be having so many difficulties.

"I have to go get a few…special things…and Hogsmeade is the only place where I can get them. Even the order forms don't supply these items," Lily said bitterly as another boy simply walked past her…again, without as much as a second glance.

"Err…," said the girl named Janice as she tried to get Lily's attention, but didn't really seem like she wanted to. In fact she felt really reluctant about it.

"Yes…Jan …out with it," snapped Lily looking angrily at her friend. "If you have any suggestions now would be a good time," she said slightly viciously.

Janice Medley, fellow Dragon and one of Lily's best friends, jerked back slightly as if stung.

"Sorry," said Lily, quietly as she noticed what had happened. "I don't mean to be angry with you… its just…I'm just so frustrated," she added solemnly covering her face in her hands in despair as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I just don't understand what could be the problem," she said miserably sighing deeply.

Janice nodded nervously at their best friend's predicament, and summoning some courage, she voiced her question.

"Forgive me if you don't like what I'm about to say but … if you're so desperate for a date, why don't you go with James? After all, he's been waiting to go out with you for months, if not years."

"Because he is an arrogant pompous, self-centered… prick who just can't get it into his oversized fat head that everything does not simply revolve around him," Lily spat out quite viciously.

"Sorry! It's only a suggestion," said Janice quickly, putting her hands up as a sign of peace.

"I'm sorry too, Jan," Lily sighed again, "but he would have to be the very last person alive before I would even consider going out with him. "If he were to change his attitude, then yes… maybe… then I might change my mind too, but for now…"

"For now… might you, perhaps, be willing to go with me...?" came Harry's voice from the door, completing her sentence.

Harry who had been at his usual Quidditch practice had been on his way back to the dorms when he just happened to stumble right into the girls' conversation. Obviously intrigued by the topic, he decided to listen right in.

Ever since he had cast the altered Notice-Me-Not Charm on Lily a while ago, he had hoped that if given some time, her stubbornness against his father, her future husband were to wear off.

Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case as, as yet, it hadn't. If anything, since Harry's arrival in the past it had only increased. This greatly worried Harry. After all, they were his parents to-be. They were supposed to get together during the year… but so far nothing had happened.

They were one of Harry's greatest worries, one of his only worries that year in fact, besides the fact that he had to kill people, which was bad enough.

Harry knew perfectly well that if they didn't get together like they were supposed to, then he, Harry James Potter, might very well cease to exist, and that would ruin everything.

"And why should I choose to go out with you?" asked Lily, giving him a stern look.

"I'm only asking," said Harry, choosing to go for the 'couldn't care less' approach while putting his hands up as a shield.

"You're just like him, why should I choose you over him?" Lily asked, looking at him and changing to her 'don't mess with me' sort of look.

Harry was taken aback. _Am I he really so much like my father_? he asked himself, Snape's words coming back to haunt him.

He hoped not.

"Sorry…I don't mean to offend you or anything… I just thought… that perhaps…given the circumstances…if you so wished to…er …that we might be able to…er…," Harry trailed off.

"Look," he said, with a sad look in his eyes. "I only wish to help… I…"

"Oh really, and why would one of James's loyal lapdogs want to help me?" asked Lily.

Harry gulped. This was not going well. Not going well at all.

"I find it hard to believe that anybody who is so close to that arrogant prick of an…

"That you would do anything to annoy him…and going out with me is one thing which will definitely annoy him," said Lily angrily.

"Hey, he doesn't own me," said Harry forcefully…_at least not yet,_ he added mentally, wondering if a father and mother ever owned their children at some point but dismissed the thought just as quickly.

"Prove it," said Lily forcefully.

Harry sighed.

"Look, Lily… this may be a bad idea but… all I ever wanted to do was to help you," he lied, as his main ambition had always been to get his two parents together.

But then again, was he lying? He was helping them to get together again… right?... _That was helping them, wasn't it_? he wondered.

"Is it my fault that I just happen to be friends with the one person you seem to dislike?" he asked.

"That's not it!" said Lily, but she was cut off.

"What is it then?" Harry asked. "If it's not that, then why do you refuse to even consider me?

"I don't dislike you because…," Lily tried to say but was cut off once more.

"I haven't done anything to you," he added loudly.

_Well not really anyway…not unless you consider turning you into a ring as doing something to you, _he thought to himself_…well I guess it is…but…_

"Look…I'm sorry about the pranks…really I am…well… not really…but the point is… please don't let that stand in our way," he said, looking straight into her eyes.

Lily sighed. "Look Harry… I…I don't really dislike you…I think you're handsome, loyal, kind even, most of the time, totally different from that prick of a friend of yours…but…"

"…But you don't think I'm serious in this matter…do you?" Harry finished, reading her thoughts…he couldn't really blame her.

Lily nodded slightly with a few tears in her eyes. "That's part of it," she said quietly.

Harry sighed. He hated it, but she was right. He would never be serious in this relationship…he couldn't be and he hated himself for it, but he and Lily were just not meant to be together. James, however, was.

Besides, he had Ginny waiting for him back in his own time, he shouldn't, he couldn't forget about her.

It just didn't look as if it would ever happen and he, Harry, son of James and Lily wanted to find out if he could change that for the better…for James, obviously.

Looking at her, his eyes filled with the pure love for the one mother he never really had, he looked straight into her eyes.

"Lily," he said.

"Yes," she nodded, with a hitched voice. She was totally taken aback by the constant and overwhelming loyalty and love she could see radiating from his eyes. It was that more than anything which changed her mind at that moment.

"Let's give it a try, ok? If you don't like it we can always move on, but please don't shun me all because I'm friends with James…Ok?" he asked. "If everything else goes wrong then at least you can get your shopping done…," Harry joked.

For the first time Lily had a small smile on her lips.

"All right…one chance…but don't screw it up…," she said kindly.

Hearing this Harry brightened up, surprised.

"Really? I mean… great!" he said as he realised that she had agreed to go with him.

"Yes… yes… really," said Lily who was laughing now, fairly amused by the surprise on Harry's face.

"So… er… does that mean we're…er… together now?" asked Harry.

"Hmm… I guess so," said Lily with a smirk.

Harry's eyes widened; he had meant that more as a joke.

"Now go… get ready… I'll meet you tomorrow for the big date," she said leaning forward to give him a small quick kiss on the nose before walking away happily. She had found her date.

Harry was too shocked to move.

_Did she just kiss me?_ he thought, dazed.

_But she's my mother…I can't let that happen._

_She's not your mother yet, _said another part of his brain.

_Perhaps, but she will be._

_So?_

_She's my mother._

_She's going to be your mother…for now she's just another girl… your girlfriend in fact…now how does that sound?_

_ Girlfriend? That sounds…good…great…but…but she's still my mother._

_She doesn't know that._

_Yes but…_

_Listen, just enjoy yourself, in a year's time you will be laughing about it_, said the foreign part of his brain.

Not knowing what else to do, Harry stumbled up the stairs to his dorm…he had a lot of thinking to do, leaving behind a smiling Janice, who took that moment to follow her friend to the dorms.

James wasn't going to be happy! He wasn't going to be happy at all!

**End of Flashback**

* * *

**#A few minutes later Boys Section, Dragon Dormitories **

"YOU'RE WHAT?" James shouted as he looked at his newest friend, turned traitor.

"I'm going out with Lily," said Harry calmly to his agitated father.

"How could you do that to me?" said James, fury blazing in his eyes. "She was supposed to go with me! Me…and only… ME!" he added forcefully.

"And she still can," said Harry.

"What?

"Just not today, because today she's mine," said Harry cheekily.

James opened his mouth to speak but closed it again just as suddenly. He was about to punch Harry but refrained from doing so. He knew Harry was still the most dangerous person around and a confrontation could only be painful, for him, not Harry.

Sirius and Remus had already left the room in an early hasty retreat, in an attempt to escape their best friends' imminent outbreak. They didn't worry about Harry's safety. They knew he could handle James. Instead it was their own health which they were worried about.

"Do you realise what will happen if she doesn't go out with me?" James asked dangerously.

_More then you might think, Dad!_ thought Harry, who was very conscious of the fact that he would then most likely cease to exist. _More than you might think, _Harry thought again.

Not giving Harry a chance to answer, James continued:

"Because if you don't, you'd better start packing," said James with restrained anger in his voice.

Harry raised his eyebrow in reply. The idea of a normal student like his young unmarried teenage father doing anything to him seemed laughable, not to him at least, not to the apprentice to the devil himself, founder of the Dragon house, feared student of Hogwarts and heir of Gryffindor and Merlin to boot, but he stayed quiet for obvious reasons.

Instead he simply said, "I understand."

"I hope you do," replied James with a growl.

"But before you threaten to do things which you will regret, why don't we see how we can use this to our…I mean… your advantage," Harry said quickly before James could add anything else.

James just frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it this way…do you really think she would have gone out with you at all from now until tomorrow?" Harry asked

"Yes," James responded simply, as if it were natural thing to do.

Harry raised his eyebrows_. My, he really was an arrogant prick, _he thought, but didn't voice it.

"If you hadn't asked her yourself, yes, she would have," James answered again.

"No James, I don't think so… as much as I hate to burst your bubble of over confidence, I have to say that she hates you too much for that…I honestly believe that she would rather have skipped Hogsmeade altogether than to have gone out with you."

"And how do you know that?" asked James clenching his teeth and folding his arms in reply.

"Because she said so…," said Harry.

James frown deepened.

"And even if that were so, how can your…relationship with her possibly be to my advantage?" James asked, still angry but a little calmer now that he had gotten over his initial outburst.

"Well… think of it this way…what do you think is going to happen when I get to Hogsmeade?" Harry asked.

"I don't know… you're going to go to Honey Dukes, the Three Broomsticks perhaps, and most likely have a great time?" he asked annoyed.

"Besides that?" Harry asked, equally annoyed by his future father's answers.

"I don't know… you tell me," said James.

Harry nodded. "The fact remains that I'm famous…as soon as I set even one single foot in Hogsmeade I will be surrounded by multiple reporters," Harry answered, he never thought he would ever like his fame but in this case it was going to be useful.

"So?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his head. "So, I won't really get much of a chance to be with Lily, will I? I will be way too busy 'willingly' answering their stupid questions than to take care of Lily," said Harry angrily.

"I still don't understand why… oh… I see…"

"Yes…that's where you come in. while I'm…busy, with the crazed bureaucratic pencil pushing eager beaver ass kissing drones… you will get your chance to move in and …hopefully be able to influence Lily…by spending some time with her…by being kind to her…and over all by NOT being such an arrogant prick. Contrary to what you might believe, she doesn't like you. Prove me…and overall prove HER wrong, but for goodness's sake, for sweet Merlin's golden balls, his wooden bicycle, and all you hold dear… do-it-right," Harry said, intoning the last few words.

Before James could even open his mouth to say another word he walked to the door and, ignoring the angry glare he was receiving from James, he left the room, leaving a fuming James behind to ponder his thoughts.

* * *

**_Next Morning, breakfast, Great Hall_**

"Delightful students and relieved fellow staff members of Hogwarts. As your esteemed headmaster it is my complete pleasure to announce that a group of five students have requested to make a special announcement of their own today.

"Not just any old announcement, but a wonderful announcement none the less as you ...or at least my fellow staff members will agree."

Saying this, Dumbledore raised his eyebrows comically and grinned.

The whole hall looked up from their breakfasts and stared at their headmaster. Everybody looked bewildered. Only the staff, at least those who knew what the announcement was about, looked thrilled and very excited.

Those who didn't know looked expectantly, wondering what had put the headmaster into such a wonderful mood.

Thornton, of course, looked indifferent, as if she simply didn't care, but those who knew her better knew that she was disgusted with the deal the headmaster had made. She had wanted more…much, much more but nobody cared about that.

"Most of you will, of course, know who the Marauders are. For those of you who don't know, the Marauders are a group of troublemakers and pranksters…"

"Elite pranksters," Sirius called out from the crowd.

"… I apologize… they are, of course, elite pranksters, whose mission it has been these past few years to make life difficult…"

"And also more entertaining for everybody," commented James, interrupting the headmaster again.

"…and also more entertaining, as James here too graciously pointed out," Dumbledore said, amused with his usual twinkle. He really seemed to be enjoying himself.

Harry chose this moment to speak up: " _A Lifetime of Prankings_ by Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, Doom, and Prongs, _Doom's Pranking Spells_ by Doom, _Doom's Pranking Potions_ by Doom, and _Pranking Techniques_, by Padfoot, Moony, Doom, and Prongs,' can be bought from us for just 10 galleons per book, each, if anybody is interested," Harry called out.

"Really?" said Dumbledore, intrigued. "Can I have a copy of each please?"

"Sure…special headmaster discount applies."

"Thanks….I'll buy three of each so … put them on the school bill."

"Will do… 12 books at 8 Galleons, 6 Sickles each… "

"Anyway…as I was saying…," Dumbledore continued to say as if nothing had happened while the rest of the school simply gaped.

The rest of the staff simply shook their heads in denial.

"The Marauders have been well known for pranking the school for several years…but alas, their time, like many other past greats, has finally come to an end."

"WHAT," screamed a few students in surprise as Dumbledore said these last few words.

They couldn't believe it. What did he mean, surely it couldn't be…could it?

"Yes… yes, I know... it's frightening, but its true… unbelievable… but true…sadly…but why don't I let the Marauders themselves explain this to you… if you would please…" Dumbledore motioned for the Marauders to come up on stage.

"Oh, do I have to?" asked Harry, who was busy surrounded on all sides, taking orders for some books, while a few professors were equally busy trying to make some of the potential buyers sit back down again.

"I'm afraid so," said Dumbledore with another twinkle.

"Oh very well…sorry, lads, duty calls…If you want to buy some, I'll be available later on, on the 7th floor, you can't miss me," Harry said as he got up and followed the rest of the ex-Marauders up to the top of the hall.

Upon reaching the podium, James glanced at his fellow Marauders before stepping up in front of the stand normally used by headmasters and headmistresses for their speeches for the start, end of year feast, and special occasions.

"Ahem…everybody…well…I, as you all know, am James Potter…leader…er…I mean …no…that is, retiring leader of the Marauders…," he stammered nervously.

"Yes…it's true…sadly it's true…today is a sad day…a sad day indeed. The Marauders are officially retiring from their pranking existence. From now on the school will be a safe…but boring place. We hope you will miss us…but... let me just say on behalf of all of the Marauders…thank you! You were all a wonderful audience.

"Now… the kind staff behind me wish…I mean, demand…that I say a few…certain words…er…well…here they are…

"As from now on, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, Doom, and Prongs will be prancing and pranking no more.

"This is because we have been…er…forced to disband when our latest prank…er…went a little bit too far…"

"You got that right," said a student from the crowd.

"Yes…quite…anyway…,"James said flustered, "the fact remains….because of the after affects of the pranks which also included the fantastic Hogwarts first all inter-house school brawl…"

"JAMES!!"

"Sorry, Professor…we…er…we the Marauders, after a considerable amount of persuasion…and threats"

"JAMES!!...I'm warning you," said McGonagall.

"…feel it were better if we disbanded from the life of pranking…which will come into immediate effect as soon as we have finished apologising for our actions of the past few days."

"So…without further ado…we would now like to apologise to you all for any trouble which we may have caused…

In the name of the Marauders…I sincerely apologise… sorry!"

And with those words James, now red-faced, stepped down from the podium.

Sirius took his place and faced the crowd.

"I'd also like to apologise in the hope that you'll accept my apology... I'm sorry! NOW… if any girls would…HEY!..."

At that moment Remus had moved up behind Sirius and shoved him off the stage before he took his turn.

"I'll be short…I'm sorry…" With a nod Remus vacated the podium.

Finally Harry walked forward in front of the stage and simply said, "I whole heartedly apologise…please accept my apology…I'm sorry, Je suis désolé, Ich entschuldige mich, Sono spiacente …"

"HARRY!"

"Herewith the Marauders are officially disbanded…Have a nice day!"

With those last words Harry stepped down and walked back into the crowd of cheering students.

"They are going to really miss us," James whispered into his ear as they rejoined the general student public.

"I know," Harry agreed. He was thinking of two mischievous red heads of the future. "They will…the Marauders will not be forgotten…," he added. "We will not be forgotten.

The rest of breakfast was a happy one.

All of the teachers seemed to be in a very happy mood, much to the chagrin of a certain Marauder.

"I can't believe they are so happy to see us go," said James. He seemed very disappointed.

Harry simply smiled. "I'm sure they think they can get some work done now…or at least they hope so," he answered.

"And there is nothing we can do about it." Sirius said solemnly.

"Nope…our days have come and gone, enjoy retirement…others will come…though I dare say they will find it difficult to top us," Harry said cheerfully.

"If only we could find a way to…"

Just at that moment Sirius's comment was brought to an abrupt end as a lone owl flew into the hall.

"Oh no!" said Remus as he recognised the letter which was tied to the bird.

A few near by students gasped. It was one of the dreaded 'black notes of death and despair,' a letter which was so named because it always came with a notification that someone had recently died.

Harry nodded his head and waited for what he knew was about to follow. He was fairly sure he knew who had died too.

The owl flew straight over the hall towards the staff table.

Many students ducked then sighed with relief as the bird flew past them. They all knew what it would have meant if it had dropped its load beside them.

As the owl flew onwards towards the head table, every staff member stiffened. Just like their students, they feared the owl's gruesome unwanted message.

The owl flew to Dumbledore and while flying over him, dropped the letter on his head.

Knowing that it was unwanted, as ill news is an unwanted guest, its deadly message now delivered, it left through the nearest owl hole in the roof.

Gingerly Professor Dumbledore swiped the letter from his hat and fumbled it open.

The whole hall was quiet as he read its insidious contents.

Having read it, he sighed and passed the letter to Minerva, who he knew would want to read it, and glanced at the assembled students.

Beside him Minerva let out a strangled gasp as she read the contents.

Slowly, wearily, Albus Dumbledore stood up, considered his thoughts for a second, and then started to speak.

"I'll keep if brief…

A terrible tragedy has occurred. A few days ago a member of our family was brutally murdered by Death Eaters as he was travelling home."

The whole hall gasped.

"The student's name was Peter Pettigrew."

"NO!" Three particular students screamed out after hearing the news.

Harry cringed. He knew that this would have happened, but even so, he wasn't prepared for the effects. It was moments like these that he hated what he had to do.

"Please…tell me that's not true," James cried out, totally distraught by the news.

"Not Peter," said Sirius in complete denial.

Remus was simply frozen in his seat. The shock had been too great.

Other students around the hall made similar comments.

Harry closed his eyes and calmed himself. Everybody watched with complete sympathy as his distressed friends were issued out of the hall and to the hospital wing for some calming potions by a few professors.

Harry knew that there wasn't anything he could do at that moment. All he could do was wait and hope. Silently he listened to the rest of the headmaster's speech and before long the subdued hall was dismissed.

"Harry Granger!"

He heard his name called out and turned to see who had spoken. Seeing that it was Minerva, he walked over to her.

"Harry," she said.

"Yes, Professor."

"Are you ok? He was a friend of yours too. Would you like to talk?" she asked kindly.

"No thanks, Professor…I'll be fine," Harry answered. He knew he would be.

Besides, he was the once who deserved the help the least.

"Very well…if you need anything or simply want to talk, my door's always open," she said as she eyed him carefully.

"I know…and thanks," Harry answered. "I'll be up in the dorms," he added and away he went.

The rest of the day he spent alone in self-imposed confinement, either in the dorm or in the Room of Requirement.

It was very late when the rest of the Marauders entered the dorms. It soon became very clear that all of them had been crying heavily. Thinking it better to leave them alone for now and not knowing what to do anyway, Harry left them in peace.

* * *

_Just another day to forget_, he thought as he settled down for the night in a conjured chair in the Room of Requirement.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you look…kind of defeated," said the Harry D'Dragonheart portrait on the wall.

"But that can't be, otherwise you'd probably be either dead, which is possible but highly unlikely, in Azkaban, which would be a horror I wouldn't even wish on the dementors, or you would most likely be blowing the world up, which might be interesting and exciting to watch but not really practical and definitely not in your current job description.

"So, since you're sitting peacefully in a chair that leaves me with the final conclusion that you simply need someone to talk to.

"So, what is this time? Would you like to talk about it?" portrait Harry asked with slight grin.

"What…oh, it's you," said Harry slightly startled by his own personal speaking portrait and perhaps second conscience."No….no…not really…just had a bad day."

"What? Was the snog with your mum not good enough for you?"

Harry grimaced. He didn't need to be reminded about his other problem and potential future failure.

"Please, what ever you do… don't remind me of who she is…I'm just barely staying sane as it is," Harry answered with a slight wistful look in his eyes.

"Believe me…er…Harry," he said to his portrait, "If she weren't my mother I'd have already bagged her…in a loving way of course, and by the way he has been acting, if he wasn't my future father James would most likely already be digging up daisies under the English Channel."

"I bet James isn't happy about that, is he?" said the portrait, recognising a joke, even if it was a bad one. At least he hoped it was a joke.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I swear, if that arrogant jealous prick doesn't get his act together soon she will never accept him. I mean, come on…let's be serious here. She is enjoying tormenting him and that can't be good, least of all for me."

"True…we shouldn't forget that our lives are tied to theirs and therefore to the outcome of their relationship," said the portrait.

Harry groaned and rubbed his face in slight despair. "How will I ever convince them," he said with a sigh.

"Let's hope Hogsmeade will do the trick," said the portrait.

"Yes, let's hope it will," Harry echoed before he slumped back into his seat.

"Let's hope it will."

* * *


	14. Killing The Greasy Snake

**Harry Potter**

**Lord Of Light And Darkness**

**Book 1**

**Life's A Prophecy**

**Chapter 14**

**Killing the Greasy Snake**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**Beta'd by: **RPMcMurphy from 'perfectimagination' Beta readers

* * *

That night Harry had another dream. At least he hoped that was all it ever was ever going to be. He didn't want it to be some kind of vision and wake up some day and find out that it had become reality.

Ever since Peter's murder, Harry had been continuously experiencing more and more of these dreams and some of these seemed to be more gruesome than others.

Once, a few nights ago, while asleep, he seemed to be walking along the 7th floor corridor towards where he knew the Dragon dormitories were situated when he stopped to look over one of the school's numerous battlement walls.

The sight he saw in the dream made his heart freeze in complete shock and despair.

Below, all over the school grounds, numerous battles were raging. It looked like as if several small groups of haggard tired looking students, many injured Order members, as well as lots of other uniformed people which he couldn't recognize were all pitched into a fierce battle of pure survival against what seemed like a vast endless supply of Death Eaters and other Dark creatures, from manticores, dementors, and giants, to some which he had never seen before.

Some of the Death Eaters, if he could call them that, even looked different than the usual sort he was used to. Harry was somehow sure they were Death Eaters, due to their black cloaks and white masks, but something was not quite right with them. They looked…well… different. Not at all what he was used to, yet somehow they still seemed familiar.

Further more, these Death Eaters seemed to be more skilled, much more dangerous, and excessively brutal than what he had had to deal with in his past.

These were so ruthlessly efficient they made even him feel afraid.

It was clear that the school's defences were doing badly, very badly against the attacking forces and wouldn't hold out much longer.

Here and there the defenders, most of them students fell, struck dead from a killing curse, tortured to insanity by the Cruciatus, or they were simply blown to bits, limbs flying everywhere, some where even set on fire then watched as they screamed and rolled all over the place, in a futile attempt to quench the fire. Those hidden behind walls where simply blown away, inclusive of the walls.

Nothing seemed to be able to stop these invaders. It was a completely sickening and disturbing sight to behold.

Harry didn't recognise any of the students who were desperately, futilely defending the school, though some of the teachers seemed alarmingly familiar. He just couldn't place them. It was as if the dream, or vision, didn't want him to recognise them.

Suddenly he looked up and saw what looked like a huge black dragon, as black as the darkest time of the night, with red marks and stripes on its wings and legs and with the reddest blood-shot red eyes which could possibly exist, flying towards him.

It was easily the size of a three story high building and looked so ferocious with its teeth, each the size of a sword, that he felt like screaming and fleeing for cover.

Indeed many of the castles defenders did just that, mostly with devastating results.

Somehow, crazily, no sound escaped his lips as the magnificent beast came closer and closer. Harry knew from experience that no matter what was about to happen next, it was never a good idea to stand still when a dragon, of all creatures, came towards you. He frantically wanted to run, to hide, but for some reason his body didn't want to obey his frantic commands. It was as if he was being controlled by an outside force which was commanding him to stay right where he was.

Harry simply stood still, stupidly, frozen to the spot, where he was standing as the dragon came closer and closer.

Looking closer at the dragon, he realised that there seemed to be a figure sitting on it, in a small alcove near the middle of its wings.

Mesmerised, Harry watched as the figure became clearer and clearer.

If he hadn't been so frightened at that moment he might have marvelled at the beast and its rider's majestic appearance, however, that was the last thing on his mind at that moment.

Standing there rooted to the spot, his mouth open in fear and disbelief at what he was seeing, he tried to see if he could somehow discern who the rider could be, but just before he could make out any recognizable features the rider seemed to hold up a hand.

A second later a huge flash of pure bright light and a bang so loud that it seemed to shatter his ear drums erupted all around him, as a huge part of the school's battlements which he was standing on simply seemed to fall apart.

Screaming wildly, Harry started to fall…and fall…and fall….

…The dragon seemed to fly beneath him and opened it huge mouth…

…He watched in absolute horror as he fell towards, right inside the waiting sword sharp jaws…

…Darkness claimed him as the massive mouth shut...

…For a brief second he felt incredible pain…

then…

… he woke up, screaming.

* * *

It took a few seconds, but Harry soon calmed down again as he realised that he had just had another one of his dreams.

Sighing heavily with relief he looked around only to realize that just like the night before, the whole dorm was standing around him, gawking as if he were from another planet or something similar.

_Oh well_, he thought. _At least this time there doesn't seem to be any scorch marks on the walls, and no broken furniture either_, he comforted himself quietly as he waited for his heart to slow down again and the nurse to finish checking him for any after-effects of the dream he had just had.

Harry realised that he was practically swimming in his own sweat.

"Here, drink this, Mr. Granger," said Poppy, the young school nurse, as she handed him a Calming Drought. "It will help…trust me," she said, looking at him with obvious sympathy in her eyes.

Of all of her patients, this one was showing the worst symptoms.

Somehow Harry couldn't help but think otherwise. Experience had taught him long ago, that things would only get worse, much worse before they ever got any better.

Ever since the headmaster's announcement to the students about Peter's death, a few particular students, usually the kind or light-hearted ones, had been coming to her with complaints that they couldn't sleep…or worse, had reoccurring nightmares.

It was fairly clear she thought that Harry had similar problems.

The problem was, however, that Harry simply couldn't understand why it was also affecting him. Not after all he had gone through in his rather remarkable short lifetime.

He had trained long and hard for this, in Hell, and his training should have been enough to stop dreams of post traumatic stress from ever affecting him, or so he thought.

"That must have been some dream," she commented. "Would you like to talk about it?" Poppy asked while she motioned for the rest of the students to leave the dorm, so that Harry could have some more privacy while she checked him over.

"No…I'm fine…thanks though for the offer… Miss…," he said quietly, remembering just in time that until now he shouldn't know who the nurse in front of him was.

It felt strange not calling her 'Madam Pomfrey', or Poppy as he was used to, having spent a lot of his school life in the hospital wing, so much so in fact that there was practically a bed named after him.

"Call me Poppy…and are you sure?…You seem to have been heavily affected by it. It might help," she said kindly.

Harry simply laughed, which really surprised the young nurse. It was that grim kind of laugh which people only had when they had seen a lot of death and had nothing more to lose.

"No, not really.…at least not unless you have a cure against dreams where you die in the most gruesome ways known to exist and where you watch your closest friends and loved ones being tortured and slaughtered around you, then no…I'm afraid I think you can't help me," said Harry humourlessly.

Hearing this, Poppy raised her eyebrows. She was really disturbed about that bit of news. No child should have 'those' sort of dreams.

"I see," she said after a while, not knowing what else to say at that moment.

"And the worst part is that this happens a lot… ," Harry added with another fake laugh which made Poppy's eyes widen even more.

"Here, the next time you go to sleep drink this …it's some dreamless sleeping potion….you should feel better after a good night's sleep," she said, handling him a vial of the potion.

"Thanks…Poppy," Harry said with a smile, happy to be able to use her name again.

"If you ever change your mind and want to talk…my door is always open," she said as she rose to leave.

"Thanks…I will," Harry said, even though he knew he wouldn't.

"I'm also going to recommend to the headmaster that you get your own room. It's clear that you pose a severe safety risk to your fellow dorm mates while you're in this state," she said with a disapproving voice which suggested that she couldn't understand why it hadn't been done ages ago.

A few minutes later she had left and Harry was alone once more.

Sighing again, which seemed to have become a habit lately, Harry thought about the murder he was destined to commit that day. _Another dream, another day, another soul, another victim_, he thought to himself as he settled down to sleep some more for another hour or so before he had to get up to prepare himself for what was to come.

Seeing as it was the weekend he could sleep in, and he was going to make good use of that today, before he had to get ready for his…or rather James's, big date at one.

What ever happened, Harry was fairly sure there would be one student less in Hogwarts later that night if he could help it…he, Harry, official messenger of death from the heavens above, would see to that.

* * *

Around an hour later Harry was once again sitting in his usual place at the Dragon table eating some breakfast.

The hall seemed kind of subdued that morning and Harry was just about to ask if anything else had happened to cause this somber atmosphere (beside Peter's death) when James and Sirius suddenly cried out in alarm. Remus looked up to see what was bothering them when he too groaned.

"Oh no!" said James with a grimace as he saw his family owl fly towards him.

Harry looked up and saw the red telltale sign of a Howler…not just one Howler though…but four Howlers to be exact…one for every Marauder in the audience.

Raising his eyebrows, when he saw the forth Howler, Harry quickly conjured himself and the former Marauders some ear muffs, which he handed round to his fellow ex-pranksters before putting his pair into his ears to dampen the usual dreadful sound which he knew was about to follow.

For some reason the Silencing Charm didn't seem to work on Howlers.

James, Sirius, and Remus gladly complied once they realised what Harry was up to.

Many fellow Dragons quickly moved away as it became clear who the Howlers were for.

"I hate these things," James whined as he reached out to open his.

"You're telling me…at least your lot doesn't threaten to kill you when they send one," Sirius said shakily as he wearily studied his own Howler, not even wanting to touch it as it started to smoke.

Before the boys could even touch their Howlers they burst into flames.

What they heard next nearly shattered their eardrums…

**_(James's Howler) _**

"JAMES HENRY POTTER, HOW DARE YOU!!  
CONSIDER YOURSELF GROUNDED…FOR…FOR A VERY VERY…VERY LONG TIME!!  
YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SO ASHAMED…HOW COULD YOU!!.

JUST WAIT!…WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN……..

WHEN WE HEARD WHAT YOU AND YOUR COHORTS DID TO POOR ABERFORTH…

I'M ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED…AND IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, I HAD TO HEAR THAT YOU INSTIGATED A FULL SCHOOL BRAWL….I DEMAND THAT YOU APOLOGISE TO …

**_(Sirius's Howler)_**

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK…

WHAT IS THIS DISGRACEFUL NEWS? SCHOOL BRAWLS AND TURNING PROFESSORS INTO GOATS…WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOUR BEHIND YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE DEAD…

HOW DARE YOU BRING SHAME TO AND BESMUDGE THE MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK.

IS THAT THE PROPER BEHAVIOR OF THE BLACK HEIR?

I AM VERY ANGRY WITH YOU…WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO WALK FOR WEEKS…

ONE MORE FOOT OUT OF LINE AND YOU'RE COMING STRAIGHT HOME…OH W…..

The other two Howlers weren't much better either. Remus became extremely white when he heard his father telling him he ought to be ashamed of himself and even hinted towards his Lycanthropy sickness (though he didn't say it outright) and that it was a poor way for paying the headmaster back for all he had done for him…

Remus, like James, had been grounded indefinitely.

The Marauders cringed as they listened to their messages.

"I'm so dead," said Sirius, who seemed to be very white and shaking fiercely.

"You don't know what they're going to do to me. I'm not going to be able to walk for weeks once they're finished with me," he whined.

"Hey…you don't live with them anymore, they can't do anything to you," said James, who was doing his best to not think about his own Howler.

"I thought they disowned you," said Harry who was leisurely vanishing the remains of his own Howler, which unlike the others', had amused him.

For some reason, what seemed like an old woman somewhere had felt it her duty to scold him for his actions even though he had no family, at least no real family in this time period.

Little did he know that it was from his mother up in Heaven, who had sent it using a different voice so as not to point the Howler towards her counterpart, who was also in the Hall and who was looking at Harry with a small grin.

Ethereal Lily had felt it her duty as Harry's mother to send him a Howler too….even if it wouldn't do any good.

"Unofficially, yes…not officially, and even if they had, do you think that would stop them from punishing me," said Sirius miserably.

"It's about the only thing they still do to me when they see me…and I wouldn't put it past them to summon me home just for that either," he said with his face in his hands.

Unfortunately for Sirius, the magical world, unlike the Muggle world, did not have associations which protected children or others from abuse.

In fact, a pure blood family head could have full control over members of his or her house, which included any punishments they could give out to them. Sirius knew this and that was one of the reasons why he had spent so much time away from his so called family.

He hated them just as much as they hated him, and Sirius knew that the only reason why his dear mother, Walburga Black, didn't officially disown him was because he was the last male of the Blacks and she just couldn't accept the fact that there would be no male heir to the black legacy if she disowned him. Sirius had been the last remaining Black male ever since his brother Regulus didn't come home one day. Never being home, if he could avoid it, Sirius never found out what had happened to him, not that his mother would tell him if he asked. She never told him anything anymore and since the others were forbidden to talk to him…

The rest of breakfast seemed to be normal and Harry, James, and Remus were still busy trying to comfort Sirius when Dumbledore suddenly stood up and called for everybody's attention.

"Can I please have everybody's attention," he called out in a very grave voice which promised certain impending doom.

"I have just received word that there has been a Death Eater demonstration in a nearby town not far from here. It has been rumoured that Voldemort himself was amongst them."

Hearing this, the whole hall, except Harry, flinched and everybody went deathly silent.

"I'm afraid to say that quite a few people, mostly visitors, did not survive the attack."

"The Death Eaters attacked in force and forty-six inhabitants, most of them simple customers, were found unmercifully slaughtered, piled up in the town square before Ministry Aurors could arrive."

The whole Hall gasped at this news.

"They never had a chance…everybody, men, women and even the children were brutally slaughtered in horrific ways of which I will not utter another word of here.

"The reason why I'm telling you this is because I'm herewith suspending today's Hogsmeade visit until a later date, which will be announced later this week while we arrange for more protection.

"All students are henceforth forbidden to leave the castle, until further notice, for any reason without the express permission of a member of the staff. I'm sorry about these arrangements, but this is for your own safety and the safety of your friends. Because the situation is so dire, any student who is found out of the castle will be expelled."

With those words Dumbledore sat back down, leaving a very subdued Hall full of students in his wake.

Later that day in the Dragon common room after everybody had had some time to digest the news, Lily walked up to Harry.

Slowly she planted a kiss on his cheek and sat down on his lap much to Harry's surprise. He was still getting used to the idea of having his future mother as a girlfriend, even if only temporary.

He did his best to ignore the scowl he was receiving from James from where he was sitting on the other side of the room.

He had not been pleased about the cancelled Hogsmeade visit and he was even less pleased that Harry now had more time with Lily. His Lily, or so he thought.

_Don't worry Dad. She will soon be yours,_ Harry vowed, giving him a small sympathetic glance when he was sure Lily couldn't see it, which unfortunately only made James glare at him more before looking away in disgust.

"So Harry, sweetie… are you still interested in going with me on the next Hogsmeade trip, whenever that may be?" she asked him in such a seductive voice which made Harry sweat slightly and his hairs stand on end. James clenched his teeth together in complete frustration.

"Er…sure…of course," said Harry, dazed. His mother was flirting with him…and the worst part was that it felt good and he liked it. It took all of his self control to stop himself from flirting and kissing her back.

"Wonderful," Lily responded, pleased as she gave Harry another kiss, much to the delight of everybody in the room.

"Er…Lily?" Harry said, as he thought about his plan to get her together with James.

"Yes?"

"Would it be ok if I brought a few friends along with us?"

"Of course, who did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Oh, just Sirius, Remus….and… James," he said hesitantly.

Harry could feel Lily tighten up slightly when he mentioned James's name before she relaxed again.

"I guess I should have expected that," she said with a small sigh.

"Ok…yes, he may come…BUT," she said, raising her voice at the 'but'.

"But…I want to make it totally clear right now that I am going out with you…NOT him," she said, looking straight at James, who was looking away from her with an angry look on his face.

"Of course," said Harry.

"Good, then everything should be just splendid," Lily said just before she gave Harry another kiss, this time on his lips slipping him some tongue, in clear view of James, which only enraged him even more.

Shocked, but thinking it best to play along, Harry opened his mouth and fully accepted the kiss, acting as if he really meant it as his tongue met hers; mentally he replaced her face with Ginny's while he did so.

With one swift motion James got up and stormed out of the room.

Harry didn't want Lily to think he didn't really want to be with her because he did, just not this way.

Not as Girl/Boyfriend but as Mother and Son.

If he didn't put some feeling into it everything could be ruined.

He only had a fleeting vision of James as he got up and left the room with a very dangerous looking scowl on his face.

* * *

The rest of the weekend flew past without anything else out of the ordinary happening, much to Harry's relief.

True, James was avoiding him and could usually be found at the other end of the school whenever Harry and Lily were together and while that wasn't great, at least that was as far as the un-pleasantries went.

Harry didn't like the murderous look his future father was giving him but there wasn't much he could do about it. At least not until the next Hogsmeade visit.

For the first time Harry found himself missing Draco Malfoy, whom he could have used to let off some steam. However, he was, of course, not here.

Before long, Harry, and everybody else for that matter, were heading down to the Great Hall for another one of their well-earned school wide detentions.

Due to the Hogwarts mega punch-up which had happened during their pranks, the whole school was still in the process of merrily serving their two week school wide detentions in the Great Hall every evening from five to nine.

Harry entered the Hall and quickly took his usual seat beside Lily. They had become quite used to working together during the past few days and loved it immensely, and quite frankly any moment Harry could get away from James's bad mood was at least, at the moment, to Harry a moment well spent.

This time it was Thornton who was supervising the school, much to three thirds of the school's displeasure and they were all going to be busy brewing potions for the hospital wing.

Harry spent the first few minutes of detention thinking about his next murder, some time in the near future. Today's plan was now busted, so he needed another.

Looking around the Hall as the most hated professor of the school walked around to hand out assignments Harry realised that a certain student…the next student on his death list was actually working right beside him.

_Snape…Snivullous Snapey Snake…fancy seeing you near by, _Harry thought merrily as he prepared to cut some of his ingredients to use for his Draught of Living Death potion which Thornton had assigned him to make.

Just like he (and the rest of the Dragons) had expected, Thornton had assigned the easiest potions to the Slytherins, leaving the most difficult potions to everybody else.

_Well at least they will be able to do these potions during our exams,_ Harry reasoned with himself as he began to work. He wondered whether the Slytherins would be able to do the same but then reminded himself that that the hag would probably give the snakes extra help before the exams to make sure they didn't fail.

Harry wouldn't have minded that too much if she was fair and helped everybody, but the fact remained that it was only the Slytherins who would be receiving her help, the rest she would only give an evil glare and if possible, a detention, usually both. As such, Harry couldn't and wouldn't respect her.

Harry was half way though brewing a second batch of the potion he was assigned when Thornton walked over to him and looked into his cauldron.

Sniffing with disdain because she couldn't find anything wrong with it she grumbled under her breath and was about the turn away when she noticed that Snape's knife needed to be sharpened as he was having problems cutting some of his ingredients.

"Mr. Granger, what do you call that?" she asked motioning towards his potion, turning back to face him.

"The Draught of Living Death, ma'am," said Harry, steeling himself for some more of her stupid and overall unfair comments. He knew very well that she was singling him out.

"Really? Looks more like poison to me."

"Really…I'd be happy to try it once it's ready," said Harry angrily.

"Another detention with me once these other two weeks are over, Mr. Granger, for your cheek and another day's detention for your badly made potion. Go and assist Mr. Snape with his Calming Draught. Cut his ingredients for him. Maybe _he_ can show you how to make a _real_ potion, not that sloppy mess which you dare to even call an attempt. Also, while you're helping him, take a sip. Perhaps it will calm you down a bit while you're at it," she said as she vanished Harry's nearly completed Draught of Living Death.

"Maybe he can also teach you how to cut ingredients the right way so you won't always have rubbish like this," she sneered dropping a mangled piece of ingredient which she had picked up from another student onto his table before she walked away.

Harry was absolutely fuming but he managed to keep quiet. He knew perfectly well that he would only make matters worse for himself if he disobeyed her.

Lily gave him an apologetic look as Harry left the table to work with Snape. She had been quietly watching his progress for the last fifteen minutes and was fairly sure that Harry's potion had been perfect.

With a sigh she went back to her own potion.

It was times like this that she would do practically anything to get Thornton sacked.

* * *

Harry took the free seat beside Snape and reached out for the first ingredient which he was supposed to cut.

Taking up the knife Snape had been using, and which he had happily surrendered to Harry, Harry attempted to cut the first ingredient but couldn't even make a decent incision into the root.

_Oh what a bitch, _he thought as he realised that the knife was nearly blunt and desperately needed to be sharpened or else it wouldn't take long before he would not be able to cut the ingredients at all, at least not correctly.

With a small sigh, he put the knife down and raised his hand to get the professor's attention.

Thornton ignored Harry for the first few minutes but soon multiple students stopped working and were starting to watch Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Granger?" she asked once she couldn't ignore him any more.

"My knife needs to be sharpened. Could I please have permission to go to the Potions lab so that I can sharpen it, or could I please have another from the store?" he asked kindly, doing his best to keep any anger out of his voice.

Thornton walked over to his desk and took the knife. She glanced at it for a second then handed it back.

"It's fine, get back to work," she said with a deliberate smile before she turned around and walked away.

Harry closed his eyes for a few seconds and began to count backwards from twenty to zero in ancient Egyptian before he turned back to his root.

_Fine, be that way. But don't blame me for any mistakes. Oh sure, I'll be the first she blames, _he thought dismally as he started to cut again, but the knife just wouldn't cut correctly.

The whole time this was happening, Snape was watching everything with amusement. Seeing that he had nothing to do until Harry had cut the ingredients, he smiled as he used the opportunity and reached into his bag to take out and do some of his homework.

Harry, who was still attempting to cut the root, was becoming increasingly angry with each passing moment.

He looked towards Thornton and saw that she was watching him with sick delight.

_That evil, EVIL bitch,_ his mind screamed as the knife finally managed to slice halfway through the first root before he finally managed to slice it in two.

_This is going no where,_ he thought. Turning towards his next ingredient, Harry realised that he was not going to be finished until very late, if at all.

_This is probably what she is hoping for,_ he mused. _Just another reason to extend my misery. I bet if she could she'd take all of our points too. _

Turning back to his work he was in the middle of cutting his root into smaller pieces when Thornton walked to a near by table to inspect another potion.

"What do you call this?" she asked a Gryffindor near by.

"A ..A…em…the…potion which I'm supposed to make?" the Gryffindor asked nervously, stammering as he spoke.

Thornton started to grin evilly.

"If this is the antidote for the common snake bite then I'm a lousy teacher and I'll gladly retire. THIS IS ABSOLUTE CRAP," she screamed.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor for this mess…," she said before she vanished the potion.

Moving away, Thornton stopped briefly at a Slytherin cauldron which was releasing fumes which had the distinct smell of rotting eggs.

"Nice attempt, but you forgot to add the Acromantula legs and to stir it counter clockwise four times. I'm sure you will do better next time. Take ten points to Slytherin for your decent attempt," she said before moving on again.

"Are you trying to kill us?" she asked the next student, a Hufflepuff.

"Er…"

"Well let's see shall we? Let's just take a small bit of this …Healing Potion of yours and test it."

"But…"

"Don't worry, it won't harm you…much," Thornton said sweetly. "You evidently seem to believe that it's fine so you should have nothing to worry about. If you did everything right as _you seem to_ think you have then you should have no problems drinking that… However, if not, you will be suffering from severe stomach cramps for the rest of the day."

"But…you can't do that."

"Oh huff and puff, you will be fine and I can and have, now drink."

"No."

"What was that?"

"I won't let you poison me," the Hufflepuff student said, eyeing the poison with evident fright.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff for disobeying a direct order…I said, drink."

"NO!" said the Hufflepuff, standing up.

"Fifty points from Hufflepuff and detention for the next four weeks… get out of here, NOW," Thornton said angrily, her face red and spit flying from her mouth.

The Hufflepuff, who was now in tears, ran out of the Hall.

"What are you looking at, get back to work," Thornton said to the Hall.

Quickly everybody went back to work.

Harry was absolutely fuming. _She is absolutely terrible…I hate her…I want to kill her_, his mind raged. He was so angry that he wasn't concentrating on his potion.

The next second it was too late.

With a loud bang his cauldron exploded.

Harry woke up hours later in a very familiar room.

"Oh no," he said as he realised that he was back in the smothering confinements of Hogwarts hospital wing and nurse.

_I hate her, I want to kill her,_ he thought again, still furious, thinking of a certain Potions mistress as he tried to move but found he couldn't.

_Oh great…what now._

He tried to make a sound but found he couldn't do that either.

_Oh, I'm so going to kill her. When I get out of here she's dead_, as dead as _...I don't know…a doornail perhaps…I don't care…don't care…just dead, do you hear me Thornton?…DEAD!_ he thought again, his mind in a frazzled craze just before he let his eyes or rather his sight wander around the room.

The wing as a whole seemed to be empty. Only one other bed seemed to be occupied.

_Snape, _his mind hissed._ Well…of course, he was beside me after all, _Harry reminded himself.

_GOOD!_

_Did it kill him?… did he die?... nah…surely not by my luck…when did I ever have luck? How badly is he hurt? _he wondered as he lay in his bed.

_They really should name one of these beds after me…I'm not even officially born yet and already I'm in one,_ he fumed.

Looking at Snape he recognised a few dreadful, deadly looking burns all over the Slytherin's face but he wasn't covered by a sheet of linen like what would have been the norm had he been dead.

_Nope, he's alive…damn. What did I expect anyway. Well…no time like the present, _Harry mused as he simply lay there all alone with his next target in the same room.

_Just how to do it…I can't move._

_Ah of course…wandless magic…but what...how?_

_I need to make it look like he died from the damages he received from the potion and not like murder…it can't look like murder._

_How to kill a Potions master…Potions master…potions….HA! how ironic...Potions master dies in potions accident…_

_Actually that could happen quite easily…isn't that a common occupational hazard?_

_Well yes, but Potions masters don't usually do potions mistakes…or do they? _

_Then again, come to think of it, he isn't a master yet._

_Damn it…concentrate, boy!!...THINK!!... _

_How to kill him in your current situation?_

_Well …I guess…but that's too easy…_

_Is it?…_

_Well…_

With a small twitch from his fingers, Snape stopped breathing.

_Well…that was simple…damn, maybe this isn't so bad after all._

_Well…I guess…_

Suddenly Snape woke up, startling Harry. Snape started to gasp and tried to move but he couldn't. Just like Harry, he couldn't really move.

With what was clearly complete panic and absolute desperation he tried to take a breath but it was clear he wasn't able to do so.

One moment later he fell back, not moving, completely dead…or so it seemed.

Waiting a moment, Harry released his magic.

Snape immediately jerked and took a deep breath.

_What?...Damn you...die!!_ Harry practically said, he was thinking so loud.

_He always was a stubborn bastard,_ Harry reminded himself as he reapplied his magic, squeezing Snape's trachea with his wandless magic.

_Why won't you die? _Harry's mind screamed as he continued to squeeze his hated future Potions master. The future bane of his school life. But Snape stubbornly refused to do so.

Annoyed with the greasy git, Harry added some more power to his magic.

With an audible crack Snape's trachea snapped.

_OOPS, oh.. .Er…way too much evidence…er... crap…, _he thought, panicking slightly.

Sending a large burst of wandless magic towards Snape, he attempted to repair Snape's throat.

Another audible crack later, Snape started to gasp once more. He wasn't going to give up. Not yet.

_I don't believe it. I simply don't believe it,_ Harry screamed out mentally.

_DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE, Harry's mind continuously screamed crazily as he started to continuously whack Snape's brain with bouts of wandless magic._

Ten minutes later he was still at it, relentlessly pounding against Snape's bruised and battered brain cells.

Finally half an hour of vicious fury-driven, over-powered assault later, totally exhausted from over use of wandless magic Harry collapsed into a deep coma like sleep.

Snape, his 'inner' brain pounded to mush, the rest of his head otherwise fully intact (disregarding the burns) was finally in eternity's blissful hands of everlasting sleep.

* * *

High in the heavens, James and Sirius were busy watching the action below.

They had asked for permission to create 'a gathering' where anybody who was interested, could watch the show below and where currently is a neutral meeting area between Heaven and Hell.

Sirius had some popcorn (extra sweet and spicy) in his hands and was sharing it with James. Both were watching the action on what seemed to be a 180 inch wide screen. The screen was magically enhanced so that they could see in more detail what was happening to Snape's insides as well as the outsides.

Suddenly Satan himself appeared beside them in a flash of black smoke and flames.

Beside him was the fairly new ethereal spirit of Peter Pettigrew.

"Oi Peter, come on over…," said James.

"We might not like you but we thought even you should see this," said Sirius as he waved the former friend turned traitor over.

"After all, he was a prick to you too while on earth," said James.

"Not to forget the countless Crucios he cast on you in the other life," said Sirius.

"What?" said Peter, who looked surprised.

"Oh, don't get us wrong, we still don't like you, but we are all dead now…well _we_ won't be… not for much longer anyway, but let's not waste time talking about technicalities like that. Besides, we Heavenlies are supposed to be nice to each other, so grab a seat, some corn and join us," said James.

"Thanks…I guess," said Peter, still confused as he sat down beside them. "What's happening?"

"Oh, Harry is just …taking care of old Sniffy…nothing special…want to watch?" asked Sirius.

"Who?"

"Snape.

"Oh, er...right…Ok," said Peter.

"Here, have some," said James as he handed Peter some popcorn.

"Oh, Snape's breathing again…can you believe it…MY he's stubborn." said Sirius excitedly. He had turned back to look at the fun below.

James started to hum a song.

_Oh Snivellous Snivy, you greasy little snake, what are you gonna do, when big bad Harry's out and coming for you._

_Harry's got you and he is pounding you too._

_You don't want to die, but you don't have a choice,_

_You'll roast in Hell, on a spike, done crispy and well. _

_Harry's angry, now isn't that swell._

_You can fight all you want, you can cry out and grunt,_

_But in the end it's all too true._

_Oh Snivellous Snivy you greasy little snake what are you gonna do,_

_Harry's out to get you and we…and the devil… are waiting for you._

Behind them Satan shook his head in amusement and turned away.

He was smiling and seemed to look extremely satisfied.

With another puff of black smoke he was away.

* * *

**_#Hours Later, Hospital wing, Hogwarts _**

Slowly Harry came back to his senses.

He could hear voices all around him. Many voices…some frantic, others seemed to be weeping but he couldn't make any sense of it.

He was delirious. Unable to think straight. For once he didn't care.

His mind didn't seem to be functioning properly. He felt absolutely awful. His mind was continuously drifting in and out of darkness. All he could remember was his recent struggle with Snape.

_I always knew he would be the death of me… _he thought dismally.

Then Harry remembered his times with the Dursleys…

_Or them…either he or them, _he corrected himself.

For a second he shivered as if someone had stepped over his grave before he fell back into the blackness of blissful sleep.

* * *

**_#Three days later, Hospital Wing, Hogwarts_**

Harry finally awoke again several days later from the depths of deep sleep.

He really didn't feel like opening his eyes and he definitely didn't feel like moving.

His recent overuse of wandless magic had left him feeling quite sore. Sore and weak.

For the next few minutes, unwilling to open his eyes, he just lay where he was and listened:

The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked a nearby voice. It sounded quite distant and completely unfamiliar.

"I think so…I don't see why not," said a second voice.

Harry's subconscious recognized this one as Poppy's, the school nurse's, voice.

_Hi Pops, I'm home…did you miss me?…no probably not, I know I didn't…_he thought sarcastically. He was feeling really sarcastic. He wanted to be sarcastic. He felt he earned the right to be sarcastic after what had happened.

"Is there any way we can talk to him," asked the first voice.

_Sure, I'd love to…but something tells me I'm not able to…right Pops? _

"I'm afraid not, he still hasn't woken up," said the voice of Poppy.

_There you go…I knew it…I can't wake up... _

"Isn't their something you can do to wake him up? Anything at all?"

_Highly unlikely._

"No sorry, I can't. He's been unconscious for the past three days. I've done all I can, it's up to him now.

_THREE DAYS…well...I guess…after what I've been trough I shouldn't be surprised. !_

"Even if I could, I wouldn't, he needs his rest. He was badly injured when that potion blew up in his face."

_Thanks… I think._

"That's why I'm here, ma'am, it's important that I get to speak to him as soon as possible. As the only surviving victim, we can't complete our investigation until we have spoken to him so it's imperative that I question him as soon as he's awake."

_Only surviving…AH!... So Snape's dead…good…finally … two down, one nibbler, and a Dark dork to go. Take that, Snivellous!_

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you near the patient as long as he hasn't woken up."

"All right, but let's hope it's soon because as you know, we can't hold her for much longer. As soon as he wakes up please give us a Floo. If he hasn't woken up by tomorrow we will have to let her go, witnesses or not. Without a statement from the victim there simply is no way we can continue with the case."

_Wait a second…who are we talking about here?_

"I was right beside him when it when it happened. Would it help if I made a statement?" said another voice which sounded just like Lily's.

"No…Miss Evans, is it?...yes…well…I'm sorry but as a minor you're simply not able to do that."

_Lily?...here?…Why…?_

"Why? He is! So why can't I?" asked Lily. She sounded angry.

"Under the Wizengamot law of 1435, section 21, subsection 14 paragraphs 7, it clearly states only an underage 'victim' can press charges or give statements. All other minors are illegible. Sorry, I didn't make the rules. That's just the way it is."

_You gotta to be kidding me. _

"But."

"Believe me, miss…we need everything…everything we can get our hands on which may be important… and if we could we'd gladly use what you could give us, but…"

_Bloody backward country. Give me Muggle laws any day. And they have the nerve to say Muggles are inferior. Baa! _

"So there is nothing we can do?" asked Lily loudly, clear disbelief in her voice.

"As I said, only Mr. Granger can help us now," said the man.

"So that's it?…after all that's happened…after all the complaints you received…If Harry doesn't wake up, she just walks away from this, she won't even get a slap on the wrist…nothing? Even with all these witnesses?"

"As I said, Miss Evans, the only underage person who can help us in our case against Madam Thornton is…"

_Thornt...on…WHAT!…hey...WAIT!..._

"…IS ME!"

"HARRY!" Lily squealed as she rushed over and swung her arms around him.

"Easy, Lils…easy…take it easy," Harry gasped as Lily crushed him in a bear hug.

"Oh Harry, I thought I lost you," Lily sobbed quietly, a few tears falling from her eyes. She refused to let go of him.

"Shhh…it's ok…I'm ok," Harry answered, doing his best to calm the red-headed girl in his arms.

_It'll take more than an exploding potion to get rid of me Lily, dear, I'll bet my life on that._

"Oh, Mr. Granger… great, you're awake … perfect. Would you be willing to answer a few ques…"

"No, he is not…he needs rest and sleep, not someone asking him questions …and he needs it now," said Poppy with disdain as she too hurried over to him.

"He is in no shape to…"

"Miss…" said Harry.

"…Answer any questions…"

"Poppy…" Harry said again.

"…at the moment."

"POPPY! I want to...," Harry said forcefully, with a clear commanding voice which held no room for debate.

"But dear….you are in no…"

"I said I am going to do this."

"Mr. Granger, you…"

"Please…please let me do this…I want to do this…"

"Oh all right…you have five minutes…but not a second longer…," said Poppy, finally relenting. She didn't look happy about it.

"Thanks, Miss…"

With a small nod Poppy moved away to give them some space.

Lily stayed nearby in case Harry needed some support.

"Now…what can I do for you…Mr….?"

"Farrington, Auror Farrington, at your service, but you may call me Stephen. Can I call you Harry?...yes… good.

"Now, Harry, I need you to answer a few questions about what happened in the Hall…can you do that for me?"

Harry nodded.

"Excellent. Now…what can you tell me about what happened in the Great Hall three days ago?"

* * *

**_#Great Hall two days later, near the end of the Snape and Pettigrew funeral ceremony, Hogwarts._**

"…and so, we finally say good bye to two brave and wonderful people. Peter Perry Pettigrew and Severus Scorpius Snape have embarked on to their next great adventure.

Peter died at the hands of those who follow Lord Voldemort, and he shall be avenged in time.

"Severus died in an unfortunate accident in this very Hall.

"Two deaths, though vastly different in nature, still send out the same message in our hearts. The message that they will be sorely missed, but not forgotten, and always loved.

"Yes, this is a sad moment, yes, we will grieve their passing and in the case of Peter, hopefully avenge his death, in the name of justice, when the time is right. But let us not remember the bad but rather the good. Both were loved and both shall be well-remembered for ages to come.

"Peter and Severus may be gone from our lives, but they will live on in our hearts and minds. It will not be easy, but life is never easy. Join with me now as we send our dear friends on to their final journey.

"Let us show our final respects in a moment of silence."

…

…

…

"Thank you. I now open the floor to anyone who wishes to say a few words of their own."

* * *

**_#Room of Requirement, that very night, Hogwarts._**

"Right lads…Icy, Pry, myself (meaning his portrait)…and me I guess (meaning himself)… " said Harry as he glanced at everybody from the safety of his favorite seat in the Room of Requirement.

"It's time to think up another brilliant plan so that our world can be made into a safer place for the days after tomorrow.

"I nearly killed myself a few days ago in my latest attempt to fulfill this worthy service to the world. Needless to say, I would prefer to avoid another close encounter with Death for at least a good hundred years or so if at all possible, thank you very much.

"Both Peter and Snape, as planned, are now dead and my parents should now be safe.

"That's good, but…but we still have one…execution… left to go in this school before we can start to concentrate on old Mouldyshorts himself. For Sirius's sake.

"Remember, we need to do this in such a way that we don't cause any unnecessary panic. In fact, the less panic the better.

"I don't have to tell you what happens if we fail… do I? Under no circumstances are we allowed to be caught and under no circumstances other than the sanctioned killing of our designated targets are we to change the past.

"Once I am born again, it's all fair… but until then any mistake can be deadly. Bad things have happened to those who have messed with time and I do not want to become one of those unfortunate souls.

I do not feel like being responsible for the _Daily Prophet_ bearing the headline 'Closure of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Massive accident kills hundreds.'

"I do not want to see some thing like: 'Dark Lord Granger slaughters all.'

"And I definitely don't want to wake up in Heaven and find out that I caused the complete and utter destruction of space and time as we know it.

"Some Muggles think that messing with time in a certain way can cause the destruction of the universe…quite frankly, I don't want to find out what that means and something tells me neither should you.

"Such news would only make me extremely grumpy and I'm sure you don't want that…

"We have the rest of the year to execute this student in such a way which does not cause the previously mentioned situation…I'm sure we can find a way to do so… yes, GOOD!

"So…any ideas?"


	15. The HogsMead Murder

**Harry Potter**

**Lord of Light and Darkness**

**Book1**

**Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 15**

**The Hogs-Mead Murder**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does.

**Chapter Beta'd by: **RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

* * *

"Professors, parents, students and other valued guests, welcome to the approximately eighty seven thousand three hundred and eighty third Quidditch match of Hogwarts' brief existence and the third match of the year.

"My name is Joanne Smith and like last year I have the honour and privilege of being your commentator for the match….and presuming our dear Professor McGonagall lets me the rest of the year."

"JOANNE."

"Yes, Professor?"

"Anyway…as I was saying… Welcome to this year's third Quidditch match. The teams are last year's winners, the ambitious and evil…"

"JOANNE, I'M WARNING YOU…"

"….Slytherins versus last year's runners ups, the courageous and honourable Gryffindors.

"And what a match this is promising to be. Last year the Gryffs had to forfeit the final match due to an unfortunate injury. It has been rumoured that this happened because a certain Slytherin who shall not be named attempted an illegal move which went wrong.

"Unfortunately for the then Gryffindor team, this blatant unsportsmanlike attack was ignored by an equal unsportsmanlike and biased…"

"JOANNE! THAT'S IT, GO! GET OUT OF HERE…"

"…referee named Thorn…. .hey…ok ok…I'm sorry…I…"

"Ahem…er… We are sorry for the brief delay as we change commentators," came a new voice.

"Our old one is...er…oh right…er…we seem to be having a few personal difficulties please be patient while we…"

* * *

Down in the cheering crowd, Harry Granger, formally known as Harry Potter, was sitting with the rest of his house and other newest friends.

Like everybody else he was enjoying the free evening and had come down to the pitch to watch the third official Quidditch match of the year.

Well, not quite.

While Harry was indeed present to watch the match, for a bit at least, it was not the real reason why Harry was in the crowd.

He had another totally different reason to be present at this particular match which had fairly little to do with being a spectator.

His real interest was not on the match but rather a certain Slytherin Chaser, though for a total different reason than to watch her play.

Harry, in his official role as messenger of death, was present for something far more dangerous and far more serious. He was here for a kill, no pun intended. He was here to kill a certain witch.

Bellatrix Black, otherwise known in his time as Bellatrix Lestrange, was about to have an unfortunate accident. An accident which Harry had planned with the hope that it would end her life. What better place to do that than at a Quidditch match?

Quidditch. The world famous wizarding sport. Highly enjoyable at times to watch, but also damn, darn dangerous. Usually always.

Quidditch is so dangerous in fact, that it's not uncommon for a player to wake up in the hospital wing a week later after a match, only to find out that they had just had a few broken bones, a torn leg, a mangled rib cage …or perhaps even on occasion a busted brain, though those were thankfully rare.

Even so, it's usually not fatal, though on very rare occasions players have been known to find out…or rather not find out… not to wake up at all…though indeed this usually only happens during professional Quidditch matches…but then again, there is always a first time for everything.

Played on extremely fast brooms with seven players on each team, the sole mission of Quidditch players is to play with three different types of balls.

One of them, called a Quaffle, is fairly harmless and is usually only used to score goals with (though it can be used to hit people with too, on certain occasions).

Two balls; big and heavy, very hard, and to be avoided at all costs, called Bludgers, are used to hit people with and on occasion, if lucky (or unlucky for some, depending on the person) to break bones or to knock peoples' brains out with.

And finally; a smaller one, called a Snitch, which is so darn fast and difficult to catch that less experienced players have even been known to concentrate so heavily on catching it that they have simply lost track of their surroundings, leading to a nasty crash, usually into a wall, spectator stand or into the ground itself.

The fact that the spectators themselves can indeed be wounded during a match is only a bonus to the game.

Yes…Quidditch is indeed a dangerous sport.

Surely nobody would notice if somebody were to loose control over their broom…right?…after all, accidents do happen from time to time.

That's directly what Harry thought when he went down that day and that's why he was there now.

* * *

"We thank you for being patient while we were looking for a new commentator. My name is Elaine Skeeter and I am this game's new commentator…"

_Hmmm I wonder whether she's related to Rita Skeeter,_ wondered Harry as he blocked out the rest of her introductory speech.

_Let's see if she commentates like the Rita I know…and hate. _

"AND HERE THEY ARE:

"For the Slytherin team I give you: Keeper WRIGHT; Chasers BLACK, NOTT and PARKINSON; Beaters ZABINI and FLINT; and for Seeker and Captain it's LUUUCCIIIOOUUSS MAAAALLLLFOOOYYY."

"Yes well…he shouldn't be…his father bought his place on the team," said a voice nearby.

Harry silently agreed_. Some things never changed, like father, like son, Draco was directly the same; power and money over skill and honour, oh well why should I care…yet. Just wait till we play you, _he thought as he settled down and continued to listen. _What you can do I can do too…and much, much more…_

"And for the Gryffindors we have: Keeper WOOD; Chasers BROWN, DAVIES and PATEL; for Beaters its O'REILLY and PREWITT; and of course for Gryffindor, it's the fabulous, the one and only, Seeker and Captain …JUUUAAANITAAA BEELLL!!"

Harry smiled. _Looks like a Wood is still Keeper…well the Woods were always great Quidditch players and then there is Bell…just like in my old time. Now I know where Katie got her Quidditch skills from. _

"Hooch is just having a quick word with both of the captains, we all know what that's about, aaaaaand we're off!

"And it is a wonderful start, Brown of Gryffindor takes the Quaffle. He passes it to Davies, Davies passes it to Patel who passes it…NO…she misses and Parkinson takes it from her and flies off towards the Gryffindor goals.

"Come on Gryffindors, you can do better than that.

"And it's Parkinson with the Quaffle, she passes it to Nott, Nott passes it to…Oh what a wonderful hit by O'Reilly. You have to have seen it to believe it. A wonderful clean hit….that's got to hurt.

"Nott drops the Quaffle and it's passed…well more like hit to Davies by Gryffindor's Beater Prewett…hey, you're supposed to hit the Bludgers not the Quaffle…"

"Oh…can you do that too…," Harry asked, surprised. _I need to remember that when I play again in my time._

"Well…it's a bit unorthodox to hit the Quaffle with a Beater bat, not to mention fairly rare…but there is no rule that says you can't do so…well, let's just say it's been done before," said Sirius, who was standing beside him

_Interesting_, thought Harry, then was distracted as the whole stadium started to roar.

"And Slytherin scores. It's now 10, 0 to Slytherin.

"And the game continues, Brown retakes the Quaffle, he passes it to Patel, who passes it to Davies, back to Brown, watch out for that Blud…ger…now… that was too close for comfort, a narrow dodge indeed …Brown passes to Patel…and she …SHE SCORES…10, 10, they're level.…."

_Well, nice game but I need to get going, after all, no idea how long it will take for them to catch the Snitch_. _Need to kill her first, _Harry reminded himself.

At that moment Harry took one last look at the game before turning his eyes away and started looking for his target.

_There you are, _he thought as he caught sight of Bellatrix Black.

_Now…how to take care of little Bella in such a way that it can't be tracked back to me,_ he wondered as he continued to track her movements around the pitch.

_I wonder if Quirrell's old trick could work here…is Dumbledore around?_ Harry wondered as he looked around for the headmaster. He wasn't in his usual place in the professor's box.

Harry knew that Dumbledore was the only one in all of Hogwarts who would be able to see actual active magic, which wasn't in a visual form, his mage sight would see to that and track the spell back to him.

Harry spent the next few minutes searching the whole stadium for Dumbledore.

Finally satisfied that he couldn't see the old man anywhere, he turned his attention back towards Bellatrix and got ready to cast what he hoped would be the fatal spell.

* * *

"And NOTT retakes the Quaffle, he heads towards the Gryffindor goals, HE'S MISSED BY BROWN…Did he just try to ram Nott?... Watch it here comes another Bludger….OH…cra.…er…My!.. that was close, but not close enough….

"…And PREWITT STRIKES AGAIN….and misses…and Ow…for goodness's sake, not your own teammate….Ouch, that's gotta hurt."

The whole stadium, most noticeably the Gryffindors, groaned as Davies lost control of his broom and some cried out in alarm when he was nearly thrown off as the Bludger hit him.

Unable to control his broom, Davies ploughed into the ground.

"And it looks like a time-out has been called," said Elaine from the commentator box.

"It doesn't look good, dear spectators…it doesn't look good at all. Davies seems to be heavily injured….yes… I'm afraid it's the Hospital wing for him…

"Let's see how the Gryffindors will react to this new disaster. This seems to be heading more and more towards a re-enactment of last years match…

"Prewitt is looking very unhappy right about now and for a good reason… Juanita is giving her a real good taking to…hey Bell, take it easy …that could have happened to anybody, besides team spankings are after the match.

Hearing this, the whole stadium, everybody but Jaunita, her teammates and a few other Gryffindors, burst into raucous laughter, much to Juanita's embarrassment, who became bright red at the comment.

"…Hooch has just flown over to Juanita …. I wonder what's being said……isn't hard to guess what though, is it?

"Hmm…Juanita definitely seems to be a very unhappy witch… by the looks of it they seem to be discussing about substitutes…rather heatedly in fact as red anger joins red embarrassment.

"What's this…Gryffindor has just lost 20 house points…for excessive use of bad language… cursing at a Professor…Oh the Poor Gryffies…too bad that you haven't learned from last year…

"…and yes…they are back on their brooms, the Gryffindors now down one Chaser…I'll say it again and again…should have trained a few reserves Jan…oh don't give me that glare, you know its true…"

Harry groaned as Davies crashed into the ground.

"Terrible," he moaned as he shook his head in denial. James and Sirius, who were sitting nearby, could only nod.

"It was the same last year…only we lost three players instead of only one then," said Sirius dismally.

Both James and Sirius did their best to ignore the jeers and taunts which were coming from the Slytherin stands.

"Luckily for us we are Dragons this year… I wouldn't be able to live with the shame of another disaster like this," James said as he continued to observe what was happening sadly.

"It hasn't been this bad since…well, since the Slyths started cheating," said Sirius angrily in a matter of fact voice, his despair turning to anger.

"Yes, ever since that bastard Malfoy arranged all of the Slyththroats to have new brooms it's been going downhill," James added dubiously.

"If only we could…"

Sirius's comment was drowned out as a sudden roar washed through the stadium.

"Oh what now…another goal for the Slytherinees?" asked Sirius irritably, sarcastically as he glanced over at the scoreboard.

It was now 120 to 20 to the Slytherins.

Sirius was about to look away in complete disgust when another cry, this time a cry of alarm made him look up to see what was happening.

Unknown to everybody in the whole stadium Harry was in the process of wandlessly, wordlessly cursing Bellatrix's broom, making it almost impossible to handle, as it tried to physically throw the Slytherin Chaser off her broom.

Amongst the cries of alarm coming from the Slytherin stands, the howl and jeers of approval from the Gryffindor stands, looks of confusion, as well as some expressions of macabre glee from everywhere else, nobody seemed to comprehend that Bellatrix Black's broom was being jinxed.

High in the air, Bellatrix was frantically trying to stay on her broom. All thoughts of trying to catch the Quaffle and to score a goal were lost as her broom tried to throw her off.

Bellatrix didn't understand what was happening. Indeed at that moment she was much too occupied with saving her own life to really care about anything else than to hold on at all costs.

With a slight twitch, Harry flicked his hand and a sudden powerful elemental gust of wind swept against the broom causing it to glide away from the stadium and over the Forbidden Forest. Bellatrix soon started to lose control and really panic when her grip began to slip and fail.

Bellatrix seemed to only just be hanging on.

Harry, seeing his opportunity to end everything, gave the broom a small wandless push, sending it flying straight into some trees.

Bellatrix shrieked out in pain as multiple branches whipped into her, each with the force and crack of a punishing cane slashing into some intended flesh.

Then it happened, with another small final jerk of Harry's finger, the broom bucked sharply into the air and like an angry rowdy bull in a Texas rodeo, interested in only one thing; to throw its rider off its back, it threw her off and hit her away, like a bat hitting a ball. Bellatrix began to fall.

In that second Bellatrix completely lost her fragile grip and was catapulted high into the air to crash head first into a tree before she began to descend, into a fast one way trip down to earth, right into the depths of the forbidden forest, where Harry was fairly certain dangerous creatures like a colony of Acromantulas or perhaps a certain isolated werewolf would be eagerly waiting for her.

At least Harry hoped they would gladly accept his little gift, this feast from the heavens.

Bellatrix screamed as she started to descend at a fair pace and her descending wails of fear and despair were so loud they could be heard from the other side of the castle grounds.

* * *

As luck would have it her screams were also heard in a certain office, which was occupied by a certain headmaster, and so it was that Albus Dumbledore arrived just in time to save the day once more.

Harry was just about to cross Bellatrix's name off his list of intended people to die, and go to celebrate in the Room of Requirement on a mission well done, when he heard the voice of the headmaster shout out an eerily familiar incantation, the same one he had heard before, back in his third year, in a frighteningly familiar situation, when he, not Bellatrix, had been the one to nearly fall to his own death after being assaulted by over fifty dementors.

"_Eresto Momentum_," came Dumbeldores voice, shouting out the same old familiar incantation at the last second and immediately Bellatrix's fall to her almost definite death…and trip to hell…was slowed, then finally halted.

Seeing this, Harry sighed and closing his eyes, he took a moment to settle his thoughts.

_Damn! _

_So, Albus Dumbledore, 'the man who trusts traitors and saves the lives of Hogwarts' resident Death Eaters', has done it again, _Harry thought, highly disappointed as he realised he had failed and that he could do nothing but watch as Bellatrix was slowly but surely rescued from her fall to the mouths of some equally disappointed and hungry beasts below.

This was one meal Harry would have gladly endorsed them to have, but alas it was not to be. How disappointing.

With a small sigh of defeat Harry turned away from the stands and started to walk away.

He knew he had lost his chance to kill Bellatrix today, and he was sure he would not have another chance here, not now, that Dumbledore had arrived.

_Until next time my dear La- Bell - la - trix, _Harry said mentally as he exited the stadium.

_Enjoy your victory while you can, the old fool won't be able to save you forever… I'll be back…and next time I'll get you, _he swore.

James and Sirius watched as he walked away. They heard his sigh but didn't think much about it, thinking it to be a sigh of relief for the narrow rescue instead.

Due to the incident the game had been abandoned, Gryffindor had lost anyway. The ending score was 300: 40, a crushing defeat for the Gryffindors, really said it all. Besides, Malfoy had caught the Snitch while everybody was watching Bellatrix fall.

Soon everybody was on their way out of the stadium and nobody was any wiser that they had a killer on the loose and out on a death roll.

* * *

Harry's next attempt on Bellatrix's life was that very night.

Due to her injuries Bellatrix had to spend the night in the hospital wing, under the tender care of the Hogwarts school nurse, recovering from her many whip marks and other injuries which she had received from her brief flight into and through the Forbidden Forest's trees.

She was not about to have a quiet night.

It was not due to the fact that she had to re-grow a few bones, which was always a very painful experience. It was also not because she had to wait for one of her torn muscles to heal, a process which was known to take hours to complete and which felt like as if you were being slowly burnt under a small hot flame, though that would definitely have been part of the reason. It was painful, true, but still manageable.

No, the real reason why she wasn't about to have a quiet night was not because of the pain she was feeling but due to the fact that she was about to be attacked…again.

* * *

Bellatrix was lying irritably in her infirmary bed, doing her best to ignore her pain and waiting for the blissfulness of merciful sleep to claim her.

Not much else she could do anyway after being order to bed. The whip marks which she had received had been easy to heal but, due to the composition and nature of the potions she had been given to mend her broken bones and repair her torn muscles, she had not been allowed to take some sleeping potion.

To top everything off, Poppy had told her that the three potions which she had been given were not compatible with the sleeping potions and that she had to therefore 'rough out' the night as best as she could.

The nurse had seemed to be sympathetic to the witch's plight…at first that is…but had become quickly adamant when Bellatrix had started to curse out loudly and wail in despair when she had been informed about her situation.

Bellatrix had even resorted to pleading with the nurse for a whole hour, and finally had even resorted to bribe the nurse before Poppy had finally had had enough.

That was when Poppy had threatened her with a loss of over 50 house points if she didn't shut up. Bellatrix had really begun to get on her nerves.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get any relief no matter what she did nor how she acted, or what she promised, Bellatrix finally gave up and settled down for a shaky and painful night.

It was past one o'clock in the morning when Harry commenced with his second attempt of murder.

Until that moment, he had been sitting quietly in his new dorm room which had been given to him because of his nightly nightmares.

Using an advanced listening spell, he listened eagerly to the conversations in the hospital wing. Quietly he hummed a little tune to himself and smiled with satisfaction whenever he heard Bellatrix wail or cry out in pain.

Every time he heard her wails and cries, Harry reminded himself of Sirius dying as he disappeared into the veil. Hearing his godfather's murderer suffer caused his grin to grow that little bit longer and stronger.

Had Harry taken a moment to consider this he might have been horrified how much he was beginning to enjoy hurting and murdering his fellow students, even if they were future Death Eaters and had been sentenced to die anyway.

However, this was not the case. His younger self would have been really disturbed about what he was currently planning to do, but this Harry was beginning to really enjoy it instead.

Little did Harry realise just how much he had changed during his brief stint in Heaven and overall Hell.

In the past Harry would have done anything to save a person's life and to reduce their suffering…even that of a sworn enemy if given the chance, now however…

It was Bellatrix's cries whose he was hearing and that made all the difference.

* * *

Slowly Harry swiveled around in his conjured Muggle military armchair and with a small smile he began to hand out some last minute orders to Pry (his highly poisonous battle snake) and Icy (his not so pure, not so light oriented phoenix).

"Right…Pry…you know what to do.

"She should now be sleeping. I'm counting on you to ...quietly…slither up to her and bite her…hard… preferably where it hurts… before she has a chance to fully realise what has happened, that means without waking her up beforehand.

"Pry…I mean it…when you do bite her…really do make sure it hurts, will you?…I want her to remember it when she arrives in …well you know where…"

_SIR! YES! SIR!_ the regal snake answered eagerly, she also seemed to be enjoying herself, immensely.

With another nod Harry flashed the snake a smile, then turned to face his phoenix.

"Icy…," Harry said, turning to face his phoenix. "Oh don't give me that look…I realise this type of work isn't in your nature, being a light oriented creature, but…"

_Yes, yes…I know, _Icy said grumpily before Harry could continue relaying his orders.

_I'll transport Pry into the Hospital wing and keep an eye on her while she goes about her… business…once finished I flash her out again…Oh…and I do all of this, preferably without anybody seeing us…correct?_ Icy finished scornfully.

She simply couldn't understand how she, a creature of the light, a creature who would usually never intentionally murder or help in a murder, ever, could somehow have been drafted into participating in such a despicable act.

"Correct…couldn't have said it better myself," said Harry happily, giving his second familiar a small wink, and a bit more leniency on military etiquette.

If Icy could have she would have huffed. Even so, her displeasure was clear.

_Let me just make one thing clear…Sir! If I hadn't been explicitly ordered to help you from the powers above, I would never help you in this… atrocious…dreadful, appalling, despicable…murderous… _

"Are you finished yet?" asked Harry. He was finding Icy's rant amusing, but he had a mission to complete. Another sign of how much he had changed in the past few months.

Pry, however shot Icy a glare for her unmilitary-like behavior.

Icy's mouth shut in disbelief as she heard Harry's reply.

_What…are you not even slightly disturbed by…this…, _she asked disbelievingly, wondering if the beings above hadn't made a terrible mistake with him.

"Icy…please…Icy!...Icy…Icy…" he answered rather patronizingly. "Of course I don't like it any more than you do…but…you see…"

Harry paused and switched over into a solemn regretful tone.

"…you see…unfortunately, I have a mission to accomplish, and sadly this mission involves the act of killing… I may not like it…I don't have to like it… the fact remains I might as well damn well hate it…but that doesn't make it any less important…" Harry started to say.

Icy simply looked away in disgust, then before Harry could utter a single extra word she flew up into the air, grabbed Pry, softly, in her talons, and flamed out of the room but not before leaving something particular behind in the process to show her thoughts on the matter.

Harry simply ignored the flaming droppings and started to grin. Slowly he sat back into his chair and waited for their victorious return.

* * *

**_#High in the heavens, around the same moment_**

"You know, Sirius…if I didn't know it any better I'd say Harry is becoming Dark and evil," said James, concerned, as he watched Harry's actions below.

"Nah…he's just having a bit of fun in what he's doing…no harm in that," Sirius answered merrily. He was looking forward to his sweet cousin's demise.

"After all…a man's gotta love what a man's gotta do…"

"Come on, Sirius, I'm serious…I…"

"…No you're not, I'm Sirius, you're P…," Sirius interrupted.

"Oh shut up and listen for a once, will you?" James cried out angrily, causing Sirius to jump in surprise. James was sick and tired of that now ancient, worn out joke.

"James?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"This isn't like Harry, he used to be a kind, good natured person, a savoir and a hero, someone who would rather have helped a person, than tried to kill them. He would even have helped a Death Eater if there were even the slightest chance that they were to change…I'm worried," James continued to say.

"Perhaps James, perhaps…but remember…Bellatrix was responsible for my death…surely you wouldn't begrudge him his revenge and final closure with the issue…I was the closest thing he had as a father, since you weren't there for him. You would probably have done so had it been you…heaven forbid, I probably would have…," Sirius said, trying to find a reasonable meaning behind Harry's actions. "Besides…he _was_ sent down to kill her…"

Sirius left the rest unsaid.

"I know…I know, Sirius…it's just…it doesn't really make it right, does it? Oh, I don't know…I just don't know. It just disturbs me somewhat…he actually seems to like it…I…I just can't get rid of the feeling that we are all doing a terrible mistake," he said sadly, worriedly, before he turned back to watch Harry's latest murder attempt.

"Yah…well…," Sirius said then paused. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine," he added after a while. He needed to believe that it would.

"I hope so," James murmured.

Sirius nodded. "I hope so too."

* * *

**_#Act Two, Hospital Wing_**

A small brief flash of silver flames was the only sign that an ice phoenix had briefly felt the need to enter the room.

However, instead of a phoenix, a poisonous snake was let behind, under a hospital bed.

In all of her monstrous and deadly beauty, Pry gazed round the room.

She took a moment to take in her surroundings, making sure that nobody else was in the immediate area (except for her intended victim) then she started to slither, silently towards the only warm and occupied bed. Slowly she began to climb up. Silently she started to slither under the bed sheets. Positioning herself, she got ready to strike…then…

A high pitched scream was the next thing Pry heard.

"AHHHHHH….," Bellatrix screamed. Her scream was so loud it could be heard from several corridors away. She had felt something move beside her and had opened her eyes only to see a massive three meter long snake in her bed sheets, right beside her, primed and ready to strike.

Pry was so startled by the sudden scream that she froze in alarm. That second of hesitation was all the time Bellatrix needed.

Suddenly Pry found herself sailing through the air.

Bellatrix in her panic had, without thinking, picked her up and thrown her into the air, away from the bed and therefore from herself.

Surprised and frozen, Pry didn't even have a chance to realise what was happening before there was another flash of silver flames and she was gone.

The next thing Pry knew and heard was a sorrowful sigh of disappointment coming from her master as he realised that his familiars, and therefore he, himself, had failed once more.

* * *

In her bed Poppy jumped about a meter into the air, when Bellatrix's scream woke her from the room next door.

It only took about one second for the nurse to throw her covers aside, another to grab her wand from the night stand and a final three seconds to rush though the door to find Bellatrix Black, hysterical and weeping.

She was standing alone and unharmed, out of her bed, in the middle of the room, with a bedside lamp in her hands, held over her head, primed and ready to strike.

It took one minute for Poppy to question and to fully understand what had happened.

Five minutes later Dumbledore and multiple other members of the staff started to arrive to search the surrounding rooms and corridors for the offending snake.

Half an hour later the search was called off.

It took a final ten seconds to declare it all a dream and to order a traumatised Bellatrix back to sleep.

One more second for Bellatrix to refuse and a final 30 seconds to force feed her two Calming Draughts while listening to Bellatrix swear at everybody in the room.

For none of these seconds was Pry in any other danger.

Nobody ever found the snake which had allegedly caused the attack.

Nobody ever found out that Pry had been anywhere near the hospital wing.

Another close escape, another failed mission, one lucky living witch left behind….all in the name of fate.

* * *

**_#Act three, A Hogwarts Corridor, during classes._**

"There she is," screamed a student from the crowd.

Bellatrix, only just out of the hospital wing, looked up startled by the sudden shout and saw a group of her Slytherin classmates advancing towards her.

Realising that they meant her, and not sure what to do, but highly alarmed by the clear aggressiveness the nearing group of students were showing, Bellatrix started to edge backwards and move away.

A second later six different cries could be heard and six different spells sped towards her.

The next thing she knew was the now all so familiar feeling of pain, before unconsciousness overtook her and she fell to the ground.

The moment Bellatrix fell, the six students (all Slytherins), blinked as if waking up from a long sleep, and froze in horror at the sight in front of them.

Amongst the cries of nearby students, three turned and started to run, two simply froze and stared with complete disbelief at what they had done. Only one turned and ran for help.

Nobody ever noticed an invisible figure sneak away and off to his next class.

Five minutes later a professor arrived at the scene of the crime.

After six minutes, Bellatrix's found herself back in what was quickly becoming her second home away from home, the hospital wing.

Seven minutes later she was reported as critically injured but stable.

She was going to survive once more, but only just.

Harry had failed once more.

* * *

**_#17:50 that evening near the headmaster's office._**

Harry swore to himself as he quietly walked along the east wall grounds of the castle, an Invisibility Charm cast upon him. He simply couldn't believe the luck a certain Slytherin witch had.

All of his attempts to eliminate Bellatrix Black so far had failed.

But that wasn't the only reason why we was busy swearing.

His latest attempt to execute Bellatrix had caused a hysterical riot in the corridors. Too much panic in fact. The panic wouldn't have caused him much concern if he had managed to kill her, but in his current position it would only cause more problems then Harry really needed.

Against his better judgement, Harry had opted for a more brutal and open attempt, even though he knew it would cause a certain amount of panic. He had thought it worth the risk and had he been successful, the results of his actions wouldn't really have mattered.

After all, it was fairly common enough for the Dark Lord to want someone dead. Nobody really expected the 'would be' assassins to be clever while going on about their deed…did they? No reason to close the school for that…right?

As it was, the Ministry had been alerted and was now on its way. That was not good.

He had failed in his latest attempt; the outcomes of the attack were now causing real problems for him in his continuing mission to kill his intended target.

Sure, he had come close to killing her each time, first by broom, then by Pry and how even by assassination squad, but every time, she had somehow always managed to survive his attacks, very much still alive…

Harry had felt so sure that using the Imperious Curse to control six students to kill Bellatrix would have done the trick. Hell, two of them had even used the Killing Curse….

The pitiful dunderheads had missed though…and the only thing he had achieved for his troubles were a few holes in the walls were the 'AK's' had hit, a lot if panic stricken students, a few confused might be murderers and a school full to the brim with Aurors.

And what was more, as if that wasn't enough, more and more students were now complaining about bad dreams. As if Poppy needed to cure any more nightmares.

Harry was extremely angry._ How could she have survived that? _hewondered to himself as he reached the area which stood directly beneath the castle walls of the tower, the tower which he knew harbored the headmaster's office.

High above him he could see the window through which he was about to enter.

_I wonder if Voldemort ever felt as frustrated like I do now, whenever I managed to survive yet again another of his Death Eater attacks, _Harry pondered as he used his shape shifting skills to change himself into a common blackbird.

A few seconds of flying later Harry found himself on the window sill where he quickly changed from his blackbird form into that of a common everyday garden bug.

_Time to bug the room,_ he joked as he crawled across the windowsill to the open window. He tried to smile but found that he couldn't. Somehow his hard bug-like antlers didn't accommodate him to do so.

Entering through the open window Harry dodged a waiting spider's web before he flew over and settled down on a nearby bookshelf to wait.

_I never thought I would ever have a reason to thank Rita Skeeter for the idea of 'bugging a room',_ Harry thought to himself smugly, as he waited for the headmaster to arrive with his guests.

Harry knew he only had about two hours, perhaps three, before he would have to change back into his natural shape. Any later and he would run the chance of permanently staying in his current shape. Not a pleasant thought to say the least, now that he didn't have the devil present to change him back again if he got stuck. Of course Harry planned to be long gone before that could occur, but accidents were known to happen from time to time and it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Harry was here for a meeting Dumbledore was about to have with the Minister of Magic and a few cronies.

Three of the people who were going to be present for the meeting - Harry had found out from reading Minerva's mind, of all people - were going to be three well known future members of the future order of the phoenix.

Minerva herself, Shacklebolt, who was at this moment only a normal field Auror, assigned to the Minister's protection, and the younger Mad-Eye Moody, who was at present an active Head Auror assigned to the Ministry top defense core. Professor Slughorn, the current, affected House Head would be present, since the meeting concerned a student of his house. Minerva McGonagall would of course be present in her official role as Deputy Headmistress.

Harry was fairly sure the whole meeting was all about his latest failure in killing Miss Black but he had to be sure.

Ever since the school started to crawl with Aurors, it had become very difficult to kill Bellatrix, impossible actually, without being caught…or thwarted. Harry needed to know what was happening, whether he was suspected, and over all just how difficult his job was about to become.

The standing office grandfather clock in the corner of the room chimed six o'clock the moment Dumbledore entered his office. Harry saw evident worry etched across the old headmaster's face, who proceeded to pace around the room as soon as he had entered.

This was a side of the old headmaster Harry had never seen before and it surprised Harry to see him so nervous. Harry had to remind himself that his old mentor, with all of his knowledge, skill, and power, was still human.

Ten minutes later a small chime came from his desk, alerting Dumbledore to his arriving visitors. Dumbledore cringed slightly as he looked into a small crystal ball from which the sound had come. He sighed, then mumbled, "and so it begins," before he sat down behind his desk, before steeling his facial expressions into what Harry was used to, the nearly fearless, commanding leader of the future.

"Come in," he called out, with complete authority, just in time before the door opened to reveal nine people who then entered the room.

"Ah Minister Bagnold, welcome to Hogwarts, it's so nice to see you again," Dumbledore said to one of his visitors, while he motioned for her and the others to sit down in the few empty seats near by.

Only the Minister actually sat in the offered seats, the other six officials from the Ministry, directed by Moody, moved to what seemed like pre-determined positions in the room, taking up defensive stances around the Minister. It was as if they expected an imminent attack from an outside force at any time.

Professors Minerva McGonagall and Slughorn both opted to stand beside their friend and employer.

"Would you care for a lemon drop…?" Dumbledore asked, offering the formidable woman, who Harry now knew was the current Minister of Magic, a cup which was filled to the brim with his favourite sweets.

Looking at him now you'd think he seemed to ignore, or simply not care, what everybody was doing.

The Minister took one quick sour look at the offered sweets then proceeded to speak:

"Dumbledore, cut the crap and let's get down to business, shall we?" said the Minister, straight to the point, a comment which made the present professors gasp. She did not sound very happy and she seemed rather annoyed to be in the office at all.

_Oh, oh … _Harry thought, his bug eyes widening, surprised by the Minister's tone, lack of pleasantries, and overall lack of respect, as he listened from his hiding spot on the shelf.

This was, after all, Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and defeater of ex-Dark Lord Grindelwald, hero of the wizarding world.

"This is no social visit, Headmaster. I came here because I heard of an attempted murder, which included the use of at least one of the Unforgivables. I have no time for your foolish behavior which I have come to expect from you over these past few years," the Minister continued in a scornful voice.

It was evident from her attitude that she didn't seem to think much of the headmaster and his ways and wasn't afraid to show it either. This woman, Harry realized, was nothing like the bumbling fool of a Minister, named Fudge, which he was used to in the future, but a vicious …competent… individual.

"Ah…of course Minister, I apologies," Dumbledore answered with a small frown, his usual sparkle absent from his eyes. It was clear to Harry from the look on his face that his dislike of the present Minister was mutual to that of his staff.

Both of the professors beside him looked angrily at the Minister but didn't react.

The temperature in the room seemed to dip slightly as the four observed each other for a minute or two before the Minister spoke again.

"Well? What are you waiting for…,"she demanded, completely undisturbed by the waves of hate radiating from the professors around her.

With a glare Dumbledore complied:

"Earlier today a student of this school was attacked and badly injured by some of her classmates wh…"

"Yes, yes…I know all about that already, Headmaster…contrary to what you might believe, we at the Ministry do have a way of observing the comings and goings of those in your school…to a degree at least..."

"…If that is so, and you already know everything what happened around here, then what do you need me for?" Dumbledore spat angrily before the Minister could finish. He was glaring fiercely at her throughout the whole conversation.

"What I want to know from you, my dear Headmaster, is what you are doing to find the real person behind this attack," the Minister said unperturbed.

"Minister, as I tol…"

"A member of one of this country's most elite and highly respected families is lying in bed critically injured, Headmaster. This is completely unacceptable as I'm sure you'd agree…"

"…Minister I'm…," Dumbledore tried to butt in but the Minister wouldn't let him.

"…I have calls from some very important members of the Wizengamot, who demand me to remove you from your position as headmaster…"

_NO!_ Harry thought loudly and he would have shouted it out had he not been in his bug form. This was one of the last things he wanted…

" Minister!" Dumbledore tried to say again angrily, this time with quite a bit of force, but as before the Minister just wouldn't let him, as she continued as if Dumbledore hadn't even spoken.

McGonagall and Slughorn gasped again slightly as they heard the Minister speak next.

"…Because of this I have no choice than to…

"Minister, for Merlin's sake…"

"…due to the fact that the real murderer is still out there, ready to try again…"

At that moment Dumbledore sighed and seemed to relent to the inevitable. This just wasn't going to plan.

"…to add a platoon of Aurors to the school's protection until this situation is resolved."

"…Oh…Ok…," said Dumbledore blinking in surprise and relieved, though he tried not to show it. He had expected much worse.

The Minister smiled then continued:

"…A Ministry overseer will also be arriving for the duration of the crisis, who will be replacing you as Headmaster of this school for the duration of the crisis…"

This was more what he had expected. With a small sigh Dumbledore sat back in his seat.

While hearing this, Professors Slughorn and McGonagall glared hatefully at the Minister.

Said Minister continued to look undisturbed by the increasing ire which was surrounding her.

"…whose job will be not only be your usual duties, but also to oversee the protection of the students of your school, a job which I may heavily stress was your responsibility and which I feel you have neglected for long enough," the Minister added smugly.

"Oh, and before you ask, this move has been sanctioned by Governors, Malfoy, Nott, and Parkinson, the three votes needed for required for such an action," she added smugly.

"Mrs. Black would have added her vote, but as the mother of the victim, she wasn't eligible to do so."

She really seemed to be enjoying herself.

_Oh no,_ thought Harry from his hiding place.

Dumbledore simply nodded sadly, surrendering to the inevitable. There was nothing more he could do. Three of the eight available governors had sanctioned his suspension. As such, no matter what he said, it wouldn't make a difference anyway.

It was only because the remaining four, baring Mrs. Black, of course, had not voted for his total dismissal, that he was still Headmaster, though suspended.

For a complete unconditional sacking at least seven of the eight Governors needed to be happy with the move.

" …I'm also going to assign Head Auror Moody to Miss Black as a personal bodyguard…

_OH NO!_ Harry cried out mentally, loudly, now horrified at what he was hearing. _How am I ever going to succeed in executing Bellatrix with _him_ guarding her,_ he wondered dismally.

The rest of the meeting passed in a haze for Harry as he stopped listening to what was being discussed.

His mind tried to comprehend what it had learned. It was as if he was in another one of his nightmares. Only this, he realised, was the bitter and unrelenting reality.

_NO…this can't be happening_…his mind tried to reason with him.

_Not him…anybody but him…why him? _His mind seemed to repeatedly think as it tried to comprehend the shock and simple meaning behind the message.

Even twenty years in the past, Moody already had his magical eye, the one which could see through Invisibility Cloaks and walls. At that moment Harry had no idea how he was ever going to kill his final target. Invisibility would be useless, and Harry felt sure Moody would watch her around the clock, making any sneak attack futile.

_Damn that eye,_ he thought as he continued to wallow in disbelief at his bad fortune.

Moody was known for his paranoid attitude…this would require some real soundproof planning. Or as close to foolproof as he could make it. He needed the perfect murder to be able to compete against an Auror like the famous, paranoid, Mad-Eye Moody.

Soon the meeting finished and the Minister left, leaving only Dumbledore behind.

Thinking it best to leave, Harry headed back towards the same open window from which he had entered before.

Harry was so occupied with his thoughts that he never noticed walking right into the nearby waiting spider's web.

_What…what's…oh…shit…_he thought as he realised what he had just done.

Harry tried to move out of the web but quickly found out that he couldn't.

_Oh bloody great,_ he cursed in his mind. He was too close to Dumbledore to change shape without him realising and would probably only get stuck in the window or wall anyway if he did. Frantically, he tried again to force himself_ out of the web._

That turned out to be a real mistake as he suddenly noticed a spider heading towards him.

_Fuck…_was Harry's only remaining thought before the spider reached him and bit him, injecting him with its paralysing syrup which it held inside itself.

Harry's last thoughts before the world around him started to spin and turn into darkness were how embarrassed he was going to be explaining 'this' to his parents above.

The next second everything went completely dark and he knew no more.

* * *

**_#High in the heavens, that same moment._**

"GO…quickly…send a message to…" Sirius never got to finish the sentence before James was out the door and on his way to the Ethereal Problems office. The first stop for any problems ethereal.

He hoped they could handle this problem.

"Shit shit shit, you stupid, careless…idiot…arrggg," Sirius raged furiously, meaning Harry down below.

Sirius had been busy watching Harry infiltrate the meeting when Harry had crawled straight into the web and both James and Sirius had groaned when he had got himself entangled into it.

"Hang on Harry, help is on the way," he said, groaning again and he hoped that James would hurry up before they would have to make a complete new body for his godson below.

He seriously hoped the spider wasn't hungry right about now.

Sirius cringed as the spider paralysed Harry and closed his eyes in dismay when it proceeded to wrap Harry up in its silky sticky bag.

* * *

**_#Universal office for ethereal problematic issues. _**

James didn't even stop to apologise to a few beings when he ran into them, knocking them over in his haste as he rushed towards the nearest clerk, who was currently busy helping another hopeful with their problem.

That particular hopeful seemed to be missing both legs and both arms and was being carried by another being who was holding up the being's head and body for him so that he could speak with the clerk on duty.

"As I was saying, my brother and I were playing around with some old Japanese Katanas…and er…we kinda got carried away," the being said, busy explaining to the annoyed, bored looking clerk what had happened to him, when James simply stepped in front of the beings and started to shout frantically at the clerk.

"Please help...it's an emergency…"

The clerk rolled his eyes before answering, "Excuse me…I was talking to the fellow behind you…"

"…But it's an emergency…," James tried to say again.

"…So what?…you're already dead…aren't you…what's the hurry, the queue's behind you," the clerk said again, pointing to the back of the queue, before he turning back to the other being.

"…It's not me…," James said interrupting the conversation between the clerk and other being again.

"…Excuse me… I'm busy with this fellow here," the clerk repeated, getting increasingly annoyed.

James simply pushed the others beings out of the way, making them fall over…

The being who had been holding the other being's head lost his grip on said head, which caused him to drop it.

"HELP," cried the head as it started to roll away. The other being quickly rushed after it.

"There, he's gone," said James to the shocked clerk, who watched the other being scamper after the other being's head in a frantic attempt to catch it as it rolled away.

Suddenly there was a wail as the head dropped off the side of a cloud.

"Oh bugger," said another nearby bystander with a shake of his head.

James and the clerk stared at where the head had fallen off the cloud for a second before the clerk turned back to face James.

"Okay…go ahead…he was annoying me anyway. What do you need?" the Clerk asked, shrugging his shoulders as he pressed a button under his table to alert a rescuing squad, also known as 'ghost control,' to collect the head from below.

A few seconds later James was busy explaining his urgent problem.

* * *

**_#Somewhere in Muggle England, The back yard of the Evans' family,_**

Rose and Petunia Evans were sleeping out in their back yard in some garden chairs and both were enjoying the evening sunshine when suddenly they began to hear a distant wail coming from above their heads.

"Do you hear that?" said Petunia, who had woken up as soon as she had begun to hear the wails, which were coming steadily closer.

"It's probably just the child from next door having another temper tantrum," said Rose, her mother. She didn't even bother to open her eyes.

"From above?" asked Petunia.

"Above?...what…hmm…now that you mention it..," said Rose as she too opened her eyes.

Suddenly both women saw a small speck in the sky, high above their heads and it was steadily coming closer, right towards them at an incredible pace.

The closer it drew, the louder and clearer the wails became.

"What in the name of…" Rose started to say as her eyes widened in alarm before she scrambled out of her chair and dived for cover.

Petunia soon followed suit.

AHHHHHHHHH, RIP… were the next things both women heard.

"Damn…what a mess. This probably means another thousand forms for me to fill out once I get back!" said an unfamiliar voice mournfully with a sob. "I guess I should simply be happy that I can't feel any pain."

Both Petunia and her mother looked up from their places on the ground before both let out a high-pitched scream of terror.

In front of them, impaled on a garden fence pole, was the head of a stranger.

"Er…hey…how's it going?" the head said before flashing them a grin.

That was all it took. A second later both of Rose's and Petunia's eyes rolled into their heads and both fainted.

The head groaned, then sighed, "OH…bugger."

* * *

**_#Meanwhile _**

After his brief meeting with the clerk, where James finally managed to explain what had happened, an ethereal agent, meaning an angel, was quickly dispatched down to earth to help poor Harry.

Said angel flew down to the open window where it plucked Harry from the web, much to the spider's chagrin, who quickly scuttled away as soon as it saw the angel's hand approach its web.

The angel quickly proceeded to fly away but not before Dumbledore saw it.

His eyes widened in surprise and he dashed to the window, but before he could get a better look, the angel had already disappeared.

Dumbledore shook his head before looking at a nearly empty bottle of butterbeer which he had been trying to enjoy moments before.

With a small shrug he vanished the bottle and proceeded to pack his bags.

"Maybe Bagnold was right…I think I may actually need a break," he said to himself solemnly, while taking a sniff of his beer.

The next morning he left the castle to commence his suspension from active duty, but not before throwing out his complete collection of firewhiskeys and meads.

* * *

Harry spent the rest of the evening recovering from his paralysis which the spider had caused.

Shortly after the angel had rescued him, the Devil visited him in his dorm room, where he then proceeded to turn Harry back into his human form.

To add insult to injury, due to the paralysis, Harry hadn't been able to meet the deadline to turn himself back and managed to get himself stuck in his bug form.

Luckily the beings above had foreseen this situation and had asked, well more like petitioned God to ask (never beg) the Devil, or someone else who knew how to help Harry, to change him back.

Harry had had to endure a four hour refresher course lecture by the Devil about the rules of shape-shifting before the Devil had felt it necessary to return back to Hell, because a riot between two Dark Lords and a Demon had started while he had been away. Harry had never been more thankful to see the back of his old master and sighed in relief when he left.

Harry spent the rest of the day recovering from his ordeal before nine o' clock sharp, that evening, he teleported to the Room of Requirement to hold a crisis meeting with his familiars and portrait.

The topic: same as last time…only this time he hoped to do a better job at it: How to kill a witch named Bella Black and over all how to do it in such a way that he wouldn't be caught. The part about not causing a panic, as long as it didn't get the school closed, had been dropped.

Something told Harry that this was going to be his final chance to eliminate her…so this time it had better work.

One of the last things Dumbledore did in his official capacity as active Headmaster before he left the school was to schedule the next Hogsmeade weekend for the following Saturday.

The new, Ministry appointed Headmaster, Adrian Maddox, quickly nicknamed 'Mad Dog Maddox' by the students, made it quickly known to everybody, staff or student alike, that any attack by anybody would be quickly punished with an extended trip to sunny Azkaban – pun intended – and any rule breakage, if serious enough, would earn you a direct 'kick in the arse,' headfirst, out of the front door of the school –no pun intended.

Maddox had especially warned everybody that the smallest infringement to the school rules would be punished severely and that he would not accept any bad behaviour of any kind by anyone.

Life in Hogwarts in the past few days had become such a terror for the student population that nobody even dared to speak outside of the house common rooms, for fear of being overheard when saying something unfavorable. Harry couldn't decide who was worse, The Mad Dog or the Umbitch. At least the Mad Dog didn't go around singling people out; Umbridge did.

Many of the younger students were so terrified that they might be sent home, that the hospital wing saw an extreme increase of students in need of a calming potion.

'Rule with an iron fist of terror,' was Adrian's motto and it became so bad that some of the teachers even 'forgot' to set homework for a few nights, in the hope that it would calm the students down a bit.

It came as no great surprise that everybody was greatly looking forward to the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.

Harry spent most of his free time when he was not finishing any homework assignments, or doing any Quidditch training, researching and planning for ways to successfully execute Bellatrix Black.

None of his ideas seemed to show any real promise however…except for one.

And so Harry set the date for Murder for the next Hogsmeade trip.

* * *

**_#Hogsmeade trip, that very next weekend._**

That Saturday, Harry was waiting with James, Sirius, and Remus for Lily in the courtyard near the school's front doors.

Harry was busy thinking about his plan and what he was about to do while he waited her her to arrive.

It was finally time for him to escort her down to Hogsmeade for their date…or rather James's date with her.

He really hoped that both of his plans for the day (the murder of Miss Black and James's engagement with Lily) were going to work. So many things could go wrong, and each of them would be disastrous. He simply could not afford to make a single mistake anymore.

Nobody thought much about his nervousness while he waited for his date and future mother. They all simply thought that he was nervous because he was bringing the former 'Queen of Gryffindor,' out for a date. Little did they realise that he was actually nervous about having to murder somebody.

Finally the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

The first thing Harry noticed was a pair of hands around him and a kiss on his cheek

Harry had been so deep in thought that he never even noticed her arrive.

Startled, he looked up.

"Hi there, handsome…are you ready?" Lily asked just before placing another wet peck, this time on to his lips.

Harry blinked then smiled.

"Always…my little Lily Flower," he answered, before returning the kiss, as was part of his act, a comment which made two particular people bright red.

Lily, because of her blush, and James, because he was beginning to boil over with silent anger and was only quiet because of the plan he and Harry had allegedly made to get him, James, together with Lily.

The plan was to have James spend time with her and thus hopefully to get him together with Lily, while Harry would be so caught up and busy, surrounded by reporters, answering their questions in Hogsmeade, that he would have no time for her.

If everything went well, James would be able to convince Lily that he was the right person for her. At least that's what Harry hoped would happen while he was busy with the media.

Even a few months after the incident, which rocked Diagon Alley, and literally broke every window for miles around all over London, magical and Muggle, newspapers like the _Wizarding Star_ and the _Daily Prophet_ were still out, busy hunting for the 'victim'…the boy who was sold a faulty wand by the greatest wand smith of the past millennium.

Harry hoped the time he spent with the media would be enough time for James to play his cards right during his 'unfortunate' absence and overall that he wouldn't mess up his time with Lily while Harry was occupied.

Something which Harry realised might very well go wrong, since Lily seemed to love making James mad…mad jealous. He only hoped that it wouldn't happen. His future would depend upon it.

* * *

It didn't take long for the quintet to make their way down to Hogsmeade. Lily was constantly trying to snuggle into, or kiss Harry along the way. A fact which nearly drove James mad which Harry knew Lily hoped it would.

The trip itself was quite enjoyable and the weather was nice. A fact which even made the act of signing out with Filch a slightly more pleasant ordeal. Even the normally bad tempered caretaker was in a better mood lately, though that was probably because he had less to clean in the castle, since students were not muddying his corridors as much as they used to.

Not that they would dare now anyway, since such an act meant an immediate month in detention, scrubbing cauldrons, under the new 'Mad Dog' regime. Harry had a funny feeling Filch was going to miss Maddox once everything was over.

As it was, the study of cleaning spells by the student population, of all ages, had risen immensely in the past few weeks.

* * *

Shortly after arriving in the village Harry saw the first waves of reporters advancing towards him. He winced as he saw them pointing at him and calling out to him for an interview. In fact he nearly ran, only just stopping himself in time.

Glancing over at James he gave him a quick nod before he apologised to, and gave Lily a small kiss before turning his attention towards the ravaging wolves of the media.

At that moment a very distraught and angry Lily was left all alone with James, who immediately took the initiative.

Harry only hoped his sacrifice wasn't going to be all in vain.

Harry spent the first few minutes answering questions and it didn't take long before he lost sight of Lily in the crowds of eager reporters which had surrounded him.

As soon as Harry was sure Lily couldn't see him anymore, his demeanour completely changed.

From one second to the next, Harry's expressions became ice cold, as he switched to his second personality. His killer instinct.

Quickly he cast two spells, both on himself. One was a wandless illusion spell, a spell he had chosen especially for this mission, the other an invisibility spell. Harry instantly vanished from sight but not before leaving a direct copy of himself behind.

Then almost at the same time, before he could knock into a single reporter, he phased.

You see, the copy he left behind of himself was quite remarkable to say the least. Not only was it one of the most difficult illusion spells known to exist…or rather not to exist as it had been lost a good millennium ago, a relic from the legendary wizzarding city of Atlantis, but it was a work of art…solid art, for the illusion was in fact solid, completely physical.

During his many hours in the Room of Requirement, which Harry had spent a lot of his time in thinking up different ways of killing his targets, Harry had prepared this spell. He had always intended to use it in one of his execution attempts for this very reason. It was a complete reconstruction of himself. From the shape of his toes to the width of his ears and everything else attached in between.

The copy was so exact that even the DNA of the copy was the same as that of its creator. The spell had only three faults:

1. It had no memories. So it would in fact be missing Harry's memories.

2. It did not have any magic of its own, so it would not be able to perform any.

3. It obviously wouldn't have any functioning reproduction capabilities, though Harry felt that was going to be the least of its, and therefore his, worries.

The first problem would be easily solved.

Part of the preparation of his doppelganger was to feed it with the relevant information it was going to need to accomplish its task. This was done by adding the memories it was going to need during the creation of the spell, just like adding memories to a Pensieve.

Harry had spent several hours in the Room of Requirement pondering on directly what memories he was going to give to his creation so that it could handle any of the questions it would be asked. This had to be done carefully, since it would not be able to adapt to a situation if it were asked a question it couldn't answer.

Luckily Harry was quite sure nobody would notice this should it happen as multiple questions were usually always asked at any given time by multiple reporters, giving his creation time to answer at least one of them.

Hopefully double Harry would therefore be able to handle anything while the real Harry was away completing his other mission…the execution of a particular witch named Black.

The second potential problem, the lack of magic, was not going to be a problem… after all he wasn't Harry, the Boy Who Lived, but Harry who blew up Olivander's, quite a difference, he wouldn't have any Death Eaters after him.

The third problem was not going to be relevant, so not important.

And so it was that Harry walked right though the huge crowd of assembled reporters as if they weren't even there…since while phased they, of course, weren't.

* * *

Sparing one last glance at his double to see if everything was alright, which it was, since his double was busy answering questions, Harry smiled and headed towards the Hogshead pub where he knew from reading her memory, Bellatrix had planned to go to spend most of her trip to Hogsmeade in.

Harry slowly made his way into the pub and spent the first few minutes glancing around the interior.

Yes, there was Bellatrix sitting lonely on her own, as he knew she would be, drinking a butterbeer.

Yes, there was Moody sitting beside her, acting as her personal bodyguard, scaring all of her friends away with his blue twirling eye.

Just like he had expected.

_Damn him, _Harry thought once more as he ordered a drink from Aberforth, who was tending the bar.

_Everything would have been so much easier if only he wasn't here, _Harry continued to think, silently cursing the young Auror.

_Instead I have to go though this whole rigmarole, _he thought again as he seemed to continue to casually observe everybody in the pub while he slowly drank his own butterbeer, then the next while he waited.

Finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

All of a sudden Bellatrix got up from her chair and turned to speak to Moody.

Casting a quick Listening Charm, Harry just managed to catch her last few words to the young Auror.

"I'm off to the ladies room…" Just the words Harry had been waiting for.

_And so it begins, _he thought to himself as he quickly noted the time of departure, on his watch, before taking another sip of his mead.

From the corner of his eye he watched as Bellatrix left for the toilets at the back of the pub and observed as Moody got up to follow her as any bodyguard should.

_Pervert! _Harry mentally said to himself as he watched Moody leave with her to stand outside the ladies toilets, only to remember that he would stop outside of the actual toilet, ready to aid her at a second's notice of trouble.

He wouldn't join her, obviously, not that it would do too much of a difference though, his eye would take care of the rest, still, Harry hoped he would at least have the decency not to look.

The moment both left the table; Harry checked the time again and with a small wave of his hand cast a small Notice-me-Not Charm on the table where Bellatix had been sitting.

The first part of his job now done, Harry went back to his drink, always keeping an eye out for Moody, or Bellatrix should they return.

Five minutes later he observed Bellatrix and Moody as they came back.

Quickly, before Moody could realise anything, Harry removed the charm from the table and watched as Bellatrix sat back down and took another sip from her cup as she had been doing for the past hour before her trip to the toilets.

At that moment Harry inwardly smiled.

The next few moments happened so fast it was almost unreal:

With a horrible gurgle, Bellatrix gasped, spluttered, then shrieked before finally falling over, out of her chair and onto the ground.

_Game over! My dear… your time is up! _Harry said mentally, congratulating himself, the moment Bellatix hit the floor.

Harry watched as Moody rushed to her side to check her out, only to announce seconds later that she was dead.

"Shit," he heard the young Auror swear loudly, just before he watched the man send a Patronus, to which Harry thought, would be some backup.

At this time the whole pub was busy watching the scene.

Harry watched and acted surprised, like everybody else, only stopping himself in time from taking a celebration sip from his mead, as Moody took a quick look around the pub, evidently looking for suspicious people. Something told Harry it just wouldn't look right at that moment to be taking a drink, not at that moment, and definitely not so calmly as if nothing had happened. Carefully steeling his expression, he did his best to look as surprised and interested as everybody else.

With a few loud cracks multiple Aurors Apparated into the pub and began taking control over the situation.

With slight amusement Harry observed as Moody, who was now spawning a very annoyed looking expression on his face, left the pub, leaving the dead body of Bellatrix Black behind in the care of the other Aurors.

Harry felt sure that he was now off to report on his failure.

Only then did Harry relax, breathe a small sigh of relief, and finish his mead with one gulp before leaving the pub before someone could question him.


	16. Explanations and DA Revisited

**Harry Potter**

**Lord of Light and Darkness**

**Book1**

**Life's a Prophecy**

**Chapter 16**

**Explanations and DA Revisited**

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**Chapter Beta'd by:** RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

**Special authors note: **Please excuse the missing ruler lines between story parts. For some reason the story editor will not allow me to add them and I have no idea why. Once I figure out how to add them successfully I will repost the chapter.

For now ruler lines will be replaced with 'LAP'.

I apologise for any inconvenience which may arise from this unfortunate issue.

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During all of this time Harry had been waiting quietly outside of the pub, under an advanced Invisibility Spell, watching the reporters alternate between questioning his double, or whomever else they felt they could ask for information about the incident in the pub.

Since the murder, the amount of reporters had nearly tripled and Harry watched, amused, as his double continuously repeated some same answers over and over again to newly arriving reporters. No one seemed to think it abnormal for a young lad to have so much patience. Or maybe they just didn't care.

Apparently Lily had long since given up waiting for him and had left to take care of her shopping as she was no where to be seen. Once again Harry hoped that James had somehow succeeded in winning her heart.

Keeping an eye on any Aurors, Harry would covertly read their minds whenever one left the pub. Once in a while Harry would also cast a time showing spell to check the time and would get more and more worried the longer it took for the Aurors in the pub to finish their business.

_Oh oh...not good, not good at all,_ _please hurry up guys,_ Harry thought to himself after a while. After all, _it's only my life you're playing around with there…and that of the future world, so no hassle, really._

He was becoming increasingly more nervous every time he cast a time spell to check the time. _I only have half an hour left before…well maybe more…I hope, _he reminded himself.

Harry was scanning the Aurors minds for a particular item…a cup.

The same cup which Bellatrix had drunk from the moment before she had dropped, dead.

That's what Harry was staying behind for and what he was going to get his hands on next, at all costs.

It was the second part of his mission in the murder of one Bellatrix Black and probably the most important and crucial part, besides the actual murder itself.

The problem was, he had a time limit to retrieve it. This was the most dangerous part of his mission for a reason and the part which he knew had the greatest chance of failure. If he didn't retrieve the cup soon all would be lost.

Scanning the mind of a particular Auror, Harry sighed heavily in relief as he found out that the man carried the cup.

Quickly noting the time, his expression turned grim.

Without another thought Harry flicked his hand and cast the strongest Imperious Curse which he could muster on to the Auror who had the cup.

The Auror never had a chance as Harry ruthlessly invaded his mind and smashed his control.

One moment he was walking towards a designated Apparition point to Apparate to Auror headquarters, the next it was as if he had completely lost his mind and all free will attached to it, completely under the control of his assailant.

Harry didn't lose another moment.

"Follow me," he quickly ordered the Auror, while still under the Invisibility Spell, and led him to a near by deserted alley.

Somehow, even though the Auror couldn't see him he instinctively knew where Harry was.

"Give me the cup," Harry ordered and so the Auror did.

Quickly Harry took the cup and cast a spell on it.

Sighing deeply, a sigh of great relief as he realised he wasn't too late and that he still had at least ten minutes to spare, Harry gave the Auror a final command:

"Now, go back to the pub and forget what happened here." he commanded the Auror.

He felt fairly angry but nonetheless fairly relieved too. He had nearly failed, partly because of these dawdling fools and partly because he hadn't planned well enough for the situation.

A few seconds later the Auror was gone and so was Harry: with a nearly silent pop he disappeared.

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Harry reappeared in the Shrieking Shack and after canceling the Invisibility Spell around him he quickly put the cup on to the ground.

Almost immediately the cup started to change and morph into a direct copy of Harry.

For the first time in the past few hours Harry allowed himself to relax.

"Hey there, number two, glad you could make it," he said, smirking.

The second Harry simply grunted in reply then said: "I'd ask you what took you so bloody long but I already know, so don't bother answering."

This statement made Harry laugh.

"Damn…that was far too close for comfort," said both simultaneously before both started laughing again.

Just then a third Harry Apparated into the building.

"Ah, good, number three's here… since Bellatrix is dead that means everything worked out fine…right?" first Harry asked third Harry.

Third Harry simply gave a simple nod to which first and second Harrys smiled.

"Well, gotta go," said first Harry as he took a Time Turner out of his pocket.

With a small salute to his double and triple, he waved his hand then turned the Time Turner over four times. With a small flash of light he disappeared.

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Harry watched his doubles disappear as he left the timeline, then he waited for what seemed like three minutes.

Looking into the darkness of the now empty shack he waited immobile until he felt himself able to move again, meaning that the time travel had been successful.

Happy, confident that the Time Turner had done its job, Harry put it away and turned himself invisible once more.

With another inaudible pop Harry then teleported back to the front of the pub.

Quickly glancing around, Harry took a moment to observe his surroundings.

Yes, there were the same reporters questioning his double, yes they were asking the same old stupid questions… questions which were actually still new at this point.

And there was Lily doing her best to ignore James.

_Damn…that's not good,_ Harry thought before he looked away.

He didn't have time to worry about those two... not now at least... he'd have to trust in James wooing skills.

Thinking about that made a shiver run down his spine.

_James and wooing skills? Better not think about it_, he thought.

Looking away from James and Lily, Harry inhaled a small breath to calm his nerves then peeked into the pub.

Bellatrix was once again sitting at her place, once again very much alive and drinking her beer.

And there was Harry, number one, enjoying one of his own.

So far so good.

Quickly stepping away from the door, before someone could knock into him, and also away, out of the line of sight of Moody's mad eye, Harry took another look at the ever important time and noticed that he had about twenty minutes left before Bellatrix was due to leave for the ladies' room.

Harry knew that Moody wouldn't expect him, or anybody for the matter, to appear twice or even three times, and certainly wouldn't be looking for it, but why take any chances.

Only fools took uncalculated chances, and Harry hoped he was not one of them.

Deciding to spend the next ten to fifteen or so minutes looking around, Harry decided to look at a nearby clothes shop and smiled at the out of date (for his time) clothes which were on offer.

"Makes me look old," he murmured to himself, before quickly stepping away from a nearby patron as he noticed her look behind her back to see who had spoken.

For the next few minutes Harry checked out the wears behind several store window glasses, then, with just about five minutes to spare he quickly made his way back to the pub.

Just in time it seemed, as Bellatrix was just leaving her seat.

Anticipating the end of the hunt, Harry waited for Moody to follow her, then watched as Harry number one waved his hand to cast the Notice-me-not Charm on the table.

Since it was he who had cast the spell, only at a different time, Harry wasn't affected by the spell and could still see the table.

Still invisible, he used his shape shifting skills and quickly changed into a fly.

The moment he completed his change to his fly shape, his invisibility spell collapsed and he became visible once more.

No one seemed to notice or care about a seemingly unimportant ordinary fly as it started to fly towards a certain table.

Not taking any chances, Harry quickly flew straight to the table, making sure all the way to keep near to the ceiling, so as to avoid any passing patrons.

Silently, safely, he landed beside Bellatrix's cup.

Harry took one last look around, then, satisfied that the Notice-me-not Charm would protect him from any wandering eyes, he changed directly from a fly into a cup. The same cup in fact which his other self had only just rescued from the Auror hours in the future.

That done, Harry settled down to wait for his past self to reclaim him hours from now.

Harry wasn't worried, he knew from his future, past self that he had already successfully succeeded, or rather that he would succeed in acquiring the cup back from the Auror before he could freeze into his current form, so that wouldn't be a problem.

Besides, his other self, Harry number three, had said that there had been no complications for his part of the mission.

Seeing that Bellatrix had died, or rather was about to die, also pointed towards the successful completion of his mission.

No, Harry wasn't worried, Bellatrix would die today, that much was certain now. After all it had already happened and the time line could only be changed so much and anything which had happened before would stay that way.

Too bad that he had only just realized that he would have to wait for over two hours, as a cup, most likely bored out of his mind, before Harry number one could rescue him.

Harry was still scolding himself silently about this little annoying fact, when he suddenly noticed himself fill up with a very cold foaming liquid which seemed to appear over him out of thin air.

Harry knew the butter beer look alike potion was in fact the poison which Bellatrix was going to drink in a few minutes…just as he had planned.

_Righty oh…the stage is set,…_

Harry paused in his thoughts just long enough to see the other cup, Bellatrix's first cup disappear, then continued:

_… pieces are placed and obstacles removed… _

Harry noticed the Notice-me-not Charm disappear from the table, which meant Bella and Moody were on their way.

_…Let's play the game…once more_, he finished thinking just before Bellatrix and Moody came back into view.

Harry watched with bated breath, for even in his cup shape he had to breath, though through very small, very hard to see holes.

Slowly Bellatrix raised him up to her lips…shuddered slightly as her lips touched him…ignored a small twinge of pain as her teeth nipped at him…suppressed the urge to cower and run, screaming, for cover as her tongue glided over him and finally, smiled inwardly as she took a sip.

_Got ya… see ya, my baby Bella …time to die...bye bye,_ Harry thought snidely as he inwardly waved his prey goodbye.

Seconds later Bellatrix gasped, spluttered then shrieked, and finally simply fell over, dropping him…

…to the floor.

Harry winced in pain, or would have had he been able to, as he hit the ground.

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The next few minutes were a hectic blur.

Harry was very thankful that he didn't break, even as a cup he was made out of stronger, sterner stuff.

Moody, however, swore and after checking Bella he Apparated away. His face was comical to look at, or so Harry thought.

In his time it had been fairly rare to see him fail. At least to fail without a clue about what had happened.

Harry was fairly sure Moody would never forget this day. He'd have to be wary of him once he found out about his little coup.

Under the circumstances the man might even hold a grudge worse than Snape's would ever have been.

Still, it would always make good black mailing material if that were to occur.

Perhaps he would simply acknowledge him as a worthy opponent and accept it as a good training exercise.

AFter all, a person could always hope.

Aurors came, Aurors went, some prodded him, one even named him 'evidence item number two.'

Number one was to be the poison which had been in the cup, he was named number two since the poison had been inside him.

_What joy. Now I even have a name_, _what's next?_ Harry asked himself sarcastically as he mentally started to tick off the seconds to freedom. With a pang Harry realized just how many seconds there were in an hour…a lot… and he had a few of them to wait.

Then he was suddenly sealed up and placed into a bag.

_Ohhhh… shit!! _

_I thought number three said there hadn't been any complications... how in the name of hell am I supposed to breath?_

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**_#In heaven, Universal office for ethereal problematic issues…once more._**

"Oh…it's you!…," said the same bored clerk as before, as James rushed into the room for the second time that week.

"What did he do this time…NO!...wait!…I don't want to know…you know the way…up the stairs to the 16340th floor then along the corridor to the 18903rd door on the left ….NEXT!!"

With out another word James rushed off, down the corridor and up the stairs.

Quite a few beings sighed in relief as he left the room. None had forgotten the last time he had been there.

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**_#Back down in...well you know where…_**

Harry was already feeling himself suffocate in his little airproof bag and wondered how in the name of merciful hell he was ever going to get out of this mess.

After all, he had got out. Harry number three had been proof of that…right?

He couldn't have turned up at the shack if he was dead…right?

So...something had to happen…before his air ran out…RIGHT?

At least he hoped so.

It's said the body acts in strange and mysterious ways and makes you think stupid things when it's close to death. The experience was fairly similar with Harry.

Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to change back from within the bag, not safely at least, and not without being seen, (He was, after all, stuck in a bag which was much smaller than himself, and which was being held by an Auror) Harry was just about to start laughing stupidly, his brain overreacting deliriously due to the lack of air, thinking about what would happen if he were to some how pop out of the Auror's pocket, when he was suddenly able to breathe again…only he didn't notice it…yet.

In his small cup-like body, within a few split seconds, a small change had occurred which now enabled him to be able to breath in a place without breathable air…a vacuum as it were.

Now, any normal person, would agree that that surely isn't possible… How can anything survive without breathing?

'Normal,' being the key word, Harry as such was never going to be normal, how could he, being a cup of all things and an apprentice to the devil to name just two.

Something changed in Harry's body that day. At that brief moment of panic his lungs changed and grew into something different…something more…unique.

A miracle….indeed, but what would you expect from a fool like him.

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The first signs Harry noticed that he wasn't dieing came quite suddenly.

One moment he was cursing and nearly panicking, then, he was panicking as his lungs started to burn due to the lack of incoming oxygen.

The next moment he tried to take a small breath… which he thought would be his last, and which it should have been had he been anybody else, he found that it came easily…too easily, for a place with little or no air.

It took a moment for his panicking brain to process the thought, but finally it did.

Harry had seen, and felt, some strange things in his brief eventful life, but growing a pair of unique lungs had so far not been one of them, until now.

As it is common for people in his position, first comes a moment of stunned surprise.

This period is then followed by a moment of disbelief, disbelief, which is then soon followed by the brief period when the mind tries to make sense of the situation.

Known as 'the voice of reason'…this moment, which when overwhelmed is followed once again by another moment of disbelief … and the circle continuous until finally…

...the brain is so overwhelmed, that one of two things finally happens:

It either stops functioning completely… which is…quite bad to say the least… or it simply accepts what it can or can not understand….which is usually better (since you can't change it anyway).

This is the moment the person develops the strong desire to make the best of it.

That's directly what Harry felt like when his brain finally realized, that yes, he wasn't going to die, not yet at least, that yes, he had survived again, miraculously…and over all, that YES, he had a different pair of lungs than before …since you would surely feel and not possibly miss such a change.

A miracle…

…Strange!…

…but useful…

…very useful…

… how wonderful indeed!...

Now he would even be able to breathe under water…something he had not been able to do before. Or in a vacuum…

…oh how he was beginning to love being a freak.

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The remaining time went by slowly.

Too slowly.

Aurors continued to come and go.

He was even graced with a few interesting and highly amusing minutes of a fairly heated row between three Aurors and a furious looking Mrs. Black. At least from his point of view, the Aurors didn't think so, and neither did Mrs. Black.

Now THAT was fun to watch.

Finally the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

The same Auror he had Imperio'd, what felt like, oh so many hours ago, finally took him, and with a wave and comment of good bye they left the pub.

The Auror only just made it out the door before he froze.

The next Harry knew he was in the possession of number one and being brought to safety.

With the familiar pop Harry found himself once again inside the shack.

As soon as number one placed him on the ground Harry happily changed into his former self.

He felt very weak and the change came slowly and difficultly.

The change into the fly and cup had taken a lot out of him and for a second he felt like he was about to collapse to the ground.

The feeling quickly passed however, as his magic started to return to him.

Harry knew it would take at least three to five minutes, maybe even longer before he would be able to use normal magic again. It was the only side effect of being a shape shifter.

"Hey there, number two, glad you could make it," came the voice of his former self.

Too tired to speak, but knowing that he had to make an effort nonetheless, and since he had already said it anyway, Harry gave a quick grunt in reply then said, "I'd ask you what took you so bloody long but I already know, so don't bother answering."

Just like in the original time line this statement made the first Harry laugh.

"Damn…that was far too close for comfort," both said simultaneously, before both started laughing again.

The situation was just too weird not to be funny.

Just as before, third Harry took that moment to Apparate into the building.

"Ah, good, number three's here. Since Bellatrix is dead that means everything worked out fine…right?" first Harry asked third Harry, just like before.

Harry watched as third Harry simply gave his nod and allowed himself to smile.

That was it…they had succeeded…now he had only one part left to do, the easiest part, and then he could go home.

"Well, gotta go," said first Harry as he took the Time Turner out of his pocket.

Harry waved good-bye and watched first Harry leave. With a small flash he was gone.

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Turning to face third Harry, Harry gave his final self a long look, then satisfied with what he saw he nodded.

With a small shake of his head, hopeful that there would be no further problems, he grabbed the bottle of poison which he was about to use from a nearby table and with a few twists of the his Time Turner, Harry was gone once more.

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The last part of the mission turned out to be fairly easy.

At the right moment, just when Bellatrix and Moody left, Harry, back under his Invisibility Spell, walked into the pub for the final time.

Having successfully recovered from the effects of his shape shifting, Harry was now able to perform magic again and it was a fairly easy task for him to walk up to the table and pour the poison into what he knew was Harry number two.

Happy that the poison was in place Harry touched and took the cup which had recently been Bellatrix's real cup.

The moment he touched the cup it disappeared as the effects of the Invisibility Spell surrounded it.

That done, Harry simply turned around and left the pub, all the time careful to never bump into anybody on the way out.

_There, that's it…now all I have to do is give this cup to the Auror who had me and relieve my double from the clutches of the media…simple…and then I can go home…mission accomplished._

That's just what he did.

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Harry waited for the shuffle and bustle of the murder to pass by. The moment he saw the Auror who had the cup come out of the pub, he followed him. He watched as Harry number one Imperio'd him…then just as the Auror was about to walk away after giving first Harry the cup, he slipped his cup into the Auror's bag.

That finished, Harry walked away. The murder had been completed successfully.

A short while later, after having finished his final encounter with Harry's two and three, Harry successfully rescued 'illusion Harry' from the media.

Or rather he simply canceled his illusion making it disappear as if he had Apparated away.

No hassle, no worry. The reporters, seeing that their juicy piece of news had vanished, soon also left when it became clear that he was gone.

That completed, Harry, having realized that all of the students had also already gone, left to go back to the castle.

Mission accomplished… this time for real…and he even had the perfect media alibi. The perfect crime so to speak.

Bellatrix Black was finally dead.

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**_#High in the heavens_**

"I thought this would never end," said James, exhausted, as he sat warily in a nearby armchair, still fairly hot and dabbing at his sweaty brow, having only just completed his trip back from the problems office.

"Remind me to pay him back for this when his time comes...ok?" James added as he let his hand fall limply to his side.

He was absolutely exhausted.

Sirius watched him with amusement in his eyes, he had something to say to that, but chose not to comment.

He could only guess what it must have been like for James to ascend all of those thousands of steps.

He did feel like asking James why he hadn't thought of using the escalator, but wisely chose not to. Now was definitely not the time.

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**_#Interlude,_**

**_Meanwhile, twenty or so years in the future, approx five months after the trio's death._**

Ginny Weasley was a very, very unhappy girl.

Only recently, she had lost eight very important people in her life. Eight people, all in a relatively short amount of time.

Four of them had been brothers, her brothers in fact. Now she only had two left and one of them, Percy, was a traitor.

Four of the others to die had been her friends from school. Two of them her best friends, … all were now dead.

It all happened so swiftly.

In a matter of weeks her number of friends and family had drastically decreased.

All because they all had one single thing in common:

They were all actively against a self styled Dark Lord with the name of Voldemort.

'Flight from death'.

The name suited him perfectly. Even Harry who was named the Boy-Who-Lived couldn't say that.

Not anymore.

After all 'he' was now dead.

That man had cheated death more times than anyone else.

Sadly, the same couldn't be said for her family.

They, at least those who were now left - and that number had been decreasing each week - had already lost all hope, or so it seemed, as everyday word came of another death.

Somehow, even hidden under a Fidelius Charm, they knew it was only a matter of time until they were next.

After all, a person could only run from death for so long until it finally claimed them.

In retrospect Ginny guessed the old saying really made sense.

You could run… perhaps, but you could never hide.

At least not for long, and never from death.

It had all started that faithless first day back from school.

Ginny had only just arrived home from the Hogwarts Express and had been busy, in the process of unpacking her school chest, when the unthinkable had happened.

Five devastating words had changed her life for good: The golden trio had died.

Voldemort had done it again and it seemed this time for good.

It may have taken an hour or two for the dreadful news to reach her - ten owls from ten different newspapers - but in the end it had completely devastated her.

Nobody had been able to tell her directly what had happened, nobody seemed to know what had happened, but in the end, it had soon been all too clear… 'dead-fully' clear: Ron, her brother, Hermione her best female friend, and, a person who had incidentally not only saved her life once, but who she had been secretly planning to spend the rest of her life with, together, as future husband and wife, Harry, had all been brutally killed.

At first she didn't believe it… she couldn't believe it… she didn't want to believe it, hoping that it was all a lie and that Harry, Ron and Hermione would soon appear happy and very much alive. But when after a while, none of them came back home and no news of their survival reached her, she knew it had to be true.

She only had to take one look at her parents' and remaining brothers' faces to know it had been true.

It had been a solemn week. When she finally realized and had accepted that it had really happened - that they were really gone - , she had been inconsolable…utterly devastated.

That night…and the following nights, she cried herself to sleep.

Ever since, she had locked herself away into her room and would only come out for meals, and only then when her parents came up to get her which in itself was fairly seldom as food became quite rare.

Her remaining brothers hadn't known what to do.

Sure, at first they had tried to talk to her, to comfort her in any way, but Ginny just didn't feel like talking to anybody.

Not then, not ever.

Bill had come home the moment Gringotts had closed. That had been the moment the Ministry fell, sending the wizarding world into complete chaos.

Fudge, that traitorous idiot, had been the first to turn to the Dark side the moment it became clear that all was lost. It seemed he had only been waiting for Harry to die so that he could safely join the Dark side.

Ironic it seemed, having denied all claims of Voldemort's return before that. As such the Ministry and all of those still willingly attached, were now working for the Dark Lord.

A Dark Lord who had returned again only three weeks after his second death…if anybody could call it that.

That man just didn't die.

Those that didn't, or rather those who weren't fast enough to escape in time had been captured and fed to the dementors.

As if that hadn't been bad enough, it got worse, much worse.

A month later, after the Privet Drive massacre, it had been the twins' turn.

A raid on Diagon Alley saw their shop completely destroyed. Burnt to the ground.

Annihilated!

There had been nothing left of it, not even dust when they had been finished with it.

They never made it out alive.

In the end, there were simply no brothers left to comfort her.

From her once, six brothers, seven if she included Harry, only Bill and Charlie had been left at that time and those had received explicit orders to stay away, to go abroad and hide….

…or join the resistance forces, either the decimated and decreasing 'Order of the Phoenix,' (the adults) or the now slightly more organized and unofficially militarized DA (the students) who were lead by Neville and then the Creevey brothers after his death.

Percy, the traitor, had been one of the first to kiss the Dark Lord's robes the moment Fudge had joined his cause.

Indeed very few did choose to run and hide, Bill included…only Charlie chose to stay away, the rest of the wizarding world simply lived in denial.

Idiots, the lot of them.

Not that it did him a lot of good.

A few days later, it somehow came as no surprise for the remaining Weasleys, when word came that Charlie had also been murdered while working at the Dragon reserve.

It seemed Voldemort had issued a high bounty on anybody with any ties to the former Order of the Phoenix, or the DA.

The Order had already been nearly annihilated in the first week, mostly by bounty hunters and other crazed individuals. Only a few of the attackers had actually been Death Eaters.

Finally, even more recently, two more of her last remaining close friends had also been killed, but at that stage Ginny hadn't cared anymore.

Both Luna and Neville died soon after the Diagon incident by the hands of a mercenary group, who were looking for that extra bit of cash, when Neville had been visiting Luna at her house.

They had recently become a couple and they never really had a chance, or so she had been told.

Ginnys only condolence in that regard was that they hadn't gone easily and managed to take out two-thirds of the whole squad with them, before they were finally subdued.

There had just been too many.

Money was so hard to get ever since Gringotts closed up. People were willing to do almost everything to get their hands on some.

Not that Ginny had really cared anymore at that stage, the results were all the same.

To keep her last remaining sanity, Ginny had to constantly remind herself that at least Bill was left, but Ginny knew that could change at any moment.

He and her father were constantly away, bunkered up in meetings at the castle, (Grimmauld Place had gone to Bellatrix the moment Harry died) or on missions for the nearly diminished Order.

On the rare occasions when he actually did come home he was either too injured or too tired to speak anyway.

Arthur and Molly only seemed to be waiting for him or one of them to die next and both had long since lost any trace of a smile.

Molly always stayed at home to look after Ginny…when she could… and an otherwise empty house.

Only Mad-Eye, a few desperate Aurors, and a few other willing lost souls, fought on against what now seemed like an unstoppable force. Which indeed it now was.

No…Ginny Weasley really was not a happy girl at all, as she sat alone in her room.

Her tears had long stopped falling, exhausted in that first week of Hell. Because that was what it was. There really wasn't another name for it.

Slowly she put aside another letter from the DA, begging her to lead or at least join the group and took another look at the family photo album - this one and only link of a once wonderful past, to the family she had once had, a better life, now never to be - which lay on her bed.

She sighed as she once again looked at her now dead brothers.

All of a sudden she heard a loud bang, then suddenly, the whole house started to shake, then crumble around her.

With a sinking feeling, Ginny realized that they had somehow been compromised.

Somehow the Fidelius had failed.

With an almost inaudible sigh of defeat and also a little relief that it was all going to be over soon, Ginny closed her eyes as she started to fall with the rest of the house.

Opening her arms, she greeted death to claim her. A second later she released a sharp scream as she felt a sharp pain as her legs broke, then another as her breast was impaled by a wooden beam …then all went dark.

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**_#Meanwhile, back in the past, Harry has his own little problems._**

Harry returned to the castle only to find two particular people waiting for him.

None of whom he really wanted to see, and definitely never together.

"Ah Mr. Granger, how nice of you to return to us…I presume you had a nice time?" said Hogwarts' new educational overlord, otherwise known as Mad Dog Maddox, the moment he saw Harry walk through the castle doors.

Thornton, who was still a Hogwarts professor, even after the recent potions incedent, was standing by his side with what could only be called an eager, vicious, victorious looking grin on her face.

Due to a mere technicality during her trial, namely a signature and bribe from a certain Malfoy, she had not been fired, much to Harry's, and that of must of the schools student bodies everlasting ire.

"Sir?" Harry replied, grimacing slightly as he saw who it was. This could only mean one thing, one word: …

Trouble.

"Care to explain why you were still out after we had explicitly told everybody to return to the castle the moment there was even a sign of any problems," Thornton asked with a smirk.

_Oh… _Harry thought…_no wonder why there were no other students around…must have missed that._

He didn't know that everybody…no exceptions… was supposed to return to the castle in the event of any trouble happening during the visit to Hogsmeade, no matter how little.

The murder in Hogsmeade would of course have classified as one.

"Did you think the rules didn't apply to you? Mr. Granger?" Thornton added sweetly.

"Er.."

"Did you think you were special?"

"Er…em..."

"Now, now…Adi…I'm sure young Mr. Granger has a very valid excuse why he was still out there…," Maddox said with a sickly sweet smile.

"…If not…well…then he can just as well start packing."

"You do have one… right?" Maddox asked Harry, as he pierced him with his eyes, daring him to say otherwise.

"Er..," was all Harry managed to say.

What could possibly help him get out of this mess?

For a second Harry froze dismayed at a loss, as Thornton's smile grew wider and wider, while Maddox's smile turned into a frown, then…

"Ah whatever… who cares!…," Harry said out loud and pointed his hand at the two professors and gave his finger a small twitch.

Taken completely by surprise, the two professors only had time for their eyes to widen and neither had a chance to fully realize what was happening before:

…

"_Obliviate_!"

…

…

"Mr. Granger? What are you doing out here…you're supposed to be in the dorms…detenti…"

"_Obliviate_!"

"GRANGER! What are you…"

"_STUPEFY_…_Obliviate_"!

"Now shut up," Harry snarled furiously before he walked away, leaving two unconscious, Obliviated professors behind to wake up hours later with a few altered memories.

He really had no time for this crap.

He never noticed two wide-eyed Gryffindors watching the show from behind a nearby statue.

Both had seen him knock out the Dog and the Thorn with wandless magic…and at a very high level at that.

Completely shocked with what they had witnessed, they quickly sneaked away to tell their mates what they had seen.

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**_#Next Morning, Breakfast_**

The next morning a lot of students from all years and from all four houses looked at Harry as if he were a god.

Harry could practically feel the awe which was surrounding him from all sides of the hall… only problem was, he didn't know why.

Sure, he was used to a certain amount of people looking at him as if he was a world wonder, which he probably was…being an unofficial founder, Quidditch star, captain and otherwise very powerful person, not to mention practically a half god sent to earth to do Heaven and Hell's bidding.

It came with the territory…but this…surely this was overdoing it.

"What?" he asked a staring fellow Dragon somewhat loudly.

Said Dragon, blushed and quickly looked away.

_What the blooming hell is going on here, _Harry wondered just as he spotted James and Sirius arguing from across the hall. It seemed to be a fairly heated discussion.

_I wonder what's wrong with them? _he asked himself as Sirius walked away from James and started to head towards him instead.

_Talking about James…did he succeed with…_

_OH...BLOODY HELL!! _Harry nearly screamed as he saw Lily walk up to James and nearly smack his head off, before turning and practically running away.

_I guess not._

James roared out in rage, tried to fire a spell at her, but missed.

"JAMES POTTER! LILY EVANS!" McGonagall screamed from the head table as she saw what happened.

Harry simply sighed and covering his face with his hands he groaned loudly.

Loudly enough for the whole hall to hear it.

"WHAT?" James roared before he could stop himself…he was red-faced and practically roasting with anger.

The whole hall gasped. It was a dumbfounded, disbelieving gasp.

McGonagall stood at the head table with her mouth open before she could comprehend what had just happened.

James on the other hand became ghostly white as he realized what he had just done.

From the hall door where Lily who had stopped after hearing McGonagall's scream could be seen watching with an equally horrified expression on her face.

It took a few seconds before McGonagall was able to speak again, but speak she did...or rather shout, at least a bit.

"RIGHT…both of you… come here?" she said dangerously.

The whole hall, Harry included, held their breath as James slowly complied.

Lily, now also fairly white-faced, followed shortly.

"Out...off to the Headmaster's office..." McGonagall said furiously.

The hall gasped again and Harry froze in horror. James became even whiter and Lily started to tremble.

McGonagall seemed to realize what she had just said and what its impending outcome would have meant for the two students and so quickly changed her mind…

"No…wait…my office instead," she said, altering her command. She clearly didn't want them expelled after all…not for something relatively small and stupid like that.

That would have been directly what would have happened had James and Lily gone to Maddox.

Harry could visibly see the expressions of gratitude and relief in his future parents faces as they left the hall, but even so they didn't look much happier at that. It was clear both knew they were in real deep trouble.

The moment McGonagall left the hall with James and Lily following her closely, several people started to whisper amongst themselves, obviously to discuss what had just happened, others simply resumed their previous whispered conversations about Harry and what had happened the night before.

Harry couldn't hear them, and as such didn't know what was happening.

Harry noticed Sirius take a seat beside him. He was shaking his head and mumbling to himself.

"I told him to leave her alone…I told him," he said to no one in particular.

"What happened," Harry asked him.

Sirius looked at Harry and gave him a small weak smile.

"James messed up…big time….and I heard you messed up too."

"I somehow caught that…what happened?" Harry asked annoyed. He should have known James would botch it all up with Lily. Well he had guessed it…but that's beside the point. How was he ever going to get them together now?

"And what do you mean by I messed up?" he asked a second later after realizing the second part of what Sirius had said.

"Well…" said Sirius solemnly.

"…It all started the moment…"

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**_#Later that evening, Dragon Dormitories, _**

Harry was furious. Scratch that…he was more than furious…he was boiling raving mad.

_What was he thinking,_ he asked himself again, thinking of both James's and a little bit about his own actions the day before.

Taking a moment to zone out of Thornton's impromptu speech, Harry glared at his future father, a future title which was becoming more and more doubtful with each passing minute.

From where he stood at the other side of the room Harry was questioning himself how his parents ever managed to get together in the other past.

Sirius had told him at breakfast that James had totally messed up his free afternoon with Lily.

Lily had not been impressed with him… at all.

According to Sirius, the moment he, Harry, had left to talk to the gaggle of reporters, James had started to suck up to Lily as if there were no tomorrow.

That by itself wouldn't have been so bad, if done right, that is if Lily had not expressly ordered him to leave her alone...or else…

Already in a bad mood before, due to a certain boyfriend with media problems, she had vented her anger, with, what according to Sirius, could only be expressed in no uncertain terms as 'extreme un-lady like and excessively vulgar language'.

She expressly told James to 'stuff himself', to 'go away' and that she would never go out with an arrogant… prick… like himself.

Sirius emphasized that the words she had used had however been no where near as nice, but refused to say them for fear of having to wash out his mouth afterwards.

Needless to say James's already over inflated ego took quiet a bruising. So much so that he finally snapped.

The outcome? Harry would never have thought it possible…

Things went swiftly from bad to worse…and now even, due to the hall incident, from worse to devastating.

According to Sirius, when Lily refused to go out with James, again, James lost it.

He completely lost it.

Harry knew that James had been going through a very bad time lately, with him being constantly jealous in a way which made Ron, back in his own time, look like a debutant beginner.

In James's mind Harry had been going out with what he considered to be 'his rightful girl', and only his girl.

Nobody else's.

But to actually go as far as to call her a 'Mudblood' to her face, something which he had sworn never to do, ever…to anybody…

…and to hit her after she had slapped him for it.

That had even been for Harry a great surprise.

Lily of course had been very distraught and holding her bruised cheek, she had run away without another word.

As if that hadn't been bad enough, James had then decided to play a…rather vicious prank on her.

That same evening after curfew, James, in his complete frustration and utter stupidity, completely vanished her clothes in front of the others. Luckily for James, it happened when both were in the common room and not in the Great Hall.

For some reason, probably due to embarrassment, Harry guessed, Lily didn't complain to a professor about it, choosing instead to act as if it had never happened, though James did get hexed pretty badly by the other girls in the dorm.

Instead, all she did in her horror and embarrassment was to rush up the dorms and not to come down again until breakfast the next day…the outcome of which…well… he had seen what had happened at breakfast, hadn't he.

Harry never thought it would ever get so bad.

Lily now expected 'him', as her boyfriend, - Lily had quickly forgiven him for being sidetracked by the reporters - to pay James back for what he had done to her.

HE… he, Harry James Potter, son of James Potter, the same accused, had to pay his father back for what had happened.

Harry felt like banging his head off a wall.

Luckily for all parties involved, McGonagall got to James, and in connection Lily, first.

Harry later heard that James and Lily spent the next few hours after classes that day scrubbing the 3rd and 4th floor corridors toilets, by hand, without magic, under the strict supervision of Filch, and would have to do so for the next few weeks after classes for an undisclosed amount of time.

Harry only hoped this new closeness, which the two now served, would somehow bring them together, though at this stage Harry was beginning to doubt it.

Still, he could always hope… couldn't he?

If not he would have to think about using more drastic measurements.

An Obliviate or two after the end of the year might handle it.

It simply wasn't possible to do so during the school year. People would notice something was off.

Harry couldn't Obliviate the whole school…well, he could try, but the risk of missing somebody or people finding out would be too great…and that would become messy.

Too messy.

No, he'd have to wait until after school and when they were alone.

Another development from the Breakfast showdown was that James also lost his Head Boy badge.

Now **that** was a blow for him.

Lily was allowed to keep her badge, for now, but was nevertheless put up for a review.

According to the school staff, anybody who simply rushed out to hit or slap, any body, even if deserving, had some issues they needed to resolve first which would surely take precedence over their Head duties.

Her fate as a Prefect and Head Girl would be decided at the next board meeting which would take place in two weeks.

All in all it had been a disastrous day for the future Potters, Harry included.

The new Head Boy would also be decided at the upcoming meeting. For now the senior prefects from each house would take over the Head Boy's tasks for their respective houses.

Lily still had her badge and duties.

To top everything up, Mad Dog Maddox also found out about it too.

Luckily though, which surprised Harry, he didn't expel them.

Just as well, by not doing so he saved Harry from doing something really drastic to get them back.

He did, however, order them to stay away from each others while they were not serving time in detention, not to mention send a letter home to each of their parents.

The Howler which came that evening for James was quite an earful.

Lily didn't receive one, but whether that was because her parents were Muggles and therefore didn't know how to make a Howler, Harry didn't know.

She would probably get hers at the end of the year… though in a different sort of way.

Finally, what had totally made Harry's day… to top the whole crowning achievement up, Harry found out that somebody had seen his little escapade with the Dog and Thorn that last night.

Obviously it didn't take long before the whole school found out about it, professors included.

Luckily though, for Harry, the professors thought of it to be a rumor, and nothing more but a rumor, not that they really minded anyway, as most hated Maddox just as much as the students, and so nothing else was done about it…

Well nearly nothing.

As a result, purely as a precaution of course, according to Maddox, the Dragons had received a head of house.

Thornton.

Thornton was the new, first, official Dragon Head of House.

It couldn't have been any worse.

That was why Thornton, of all people was now giving her first impromptu speech in the dormitories, telling the Dragons that she would not take any 'crap' from them, or from anybody, and that she would send anybody straight to Maddox if they did.

Harry's life was about to become a personal hell.

Scratch that...it was already a personal hell.

How could things get any worse.

Harry had had just about had enough!

Any more, he vowed and he wouldn't care anymore.

Any more and he would not, could not accept this new development.

Any more and he was going to take everything into his own hands.

The future be damned.

As far as he was concerned he had already changed to a lot of it anyway. What difference would one more person do?

One thing was clear:

If Thornton didn't behave herself, then the Thorn in his side would be next!

Little did Harry realise that that moment would come soon.

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

_**#A few days later**_

The big day had arrived.

The Dragons were about to play in their first Quidditch match of the year and it was going to be against none other than the house of the great thinkers, Ravenclaw.

Harry wasn't too worried.

Through out all of Hogwarts many years of existence, Ravenclaw house had never been much of a contender for the Quidditch cup, preferring always to do better at school work than at the school game.

Never the less, once in a blue moon, the Claws were known to get a few great players amongst their strategic thinkers, like in seven memorable years during the 1700's, when they took the cup seven times in a row before their star player 'the great thinker' Jason Scott McNimbus graduated from the school.

The same Jason who later founded the famous Nimbus company which recently created the Nimbus 200 racing broom and would in his time create the Nimbus 2000 and 2001.

This year's crowd was not looking like much though, so Harry wasn't worried…much.

Not that he really had any reason to be worried. Thinking about this year's Nimbus, the fastest broom of this era, Harry had to laugh.

My, was he going to show them what a real broom looked like.

It would be a great way to start off the first Dragon team in existence in their maiden Quidditch match.

Not only the Quidditch team but also what Harry was sure would soon become the one and only, unbeatable, legendary, 'fastest broom in the world,' The DragonFlash.

After thinking about it for a few days Harry had decided to rename his creation from DragonBolt to the DragonFlash. He just thought the word bolt didn't seem right…it just seemed too similar to his old Firebolt.

All he and the Dragons needed now was a team mascot, but Harry somehow doubted that he or the team would be allowed his idea of a team mascot…a dragon.

Any other animal just didn't seem worthy enough…unless it was a Gryffin perhaps, but Harry had no idea where to find one on such short notice. It wasn't important anyway.

Harry was looking forward to riding his new broom so much that he never noticed a certain head of house waiting for him in the corridors while on his way to meet his team in the Quidditch changing rooms.

Ever since she became the Dragons head of house, Thornton had been looking for any reason to give Harry a detention or any other sort of sanction.

She would have docked points too, presumably, for simply looking at her in the corridor if she could have, but as the Dragon house was not official it still had no points to take away from.

So Thornton had to make do with other forms of punishments to deal with her most hated student, no matter how unfair it may be, and that was the only reason why she was waiting for him now.

The moment Harry came into view she walked over to him.

"Mr. Granger, what is that you're holding in your hand?" she asked immediately the moment she was close enough to be heard by him, even though she knew perfectly well what it was.

Taken slightly by surprise by the stupid question, Harry turned to face her.

"It's my new broom, Ma'am" Harry answered. He was trying to keep his voice polite and well mannered but somehow failed miserably once he saw who it was.

"I can see that, boy," Thornton answered scornfully, a phrase which made Harry scowl angrily as it reminded him of what Uncle Vernon would say.

"Give it to me. Now!"

Not happy about it but seeing no way put it off, short of Obliviating her, Harry handed over the precious broom.

He would have risked it had the corridors been empty, but with students walking past on their way to see the match it just wasn't possible.

Without even really looking at it Thornton took it and smiled.

It was a sickening smile.

Seeing it, Harry got even angrier.

"I have been hearing rumours that it may have been cursed or a spell may have been put on it, therefore I can not allow you to use it in today's match. You can have it back in a few days once I've had a chance to test it… besides I'm sure you have added a few illegal spells on it anyway," was all she said before she turned around and walked off, leaving Harry without his broom.

Harry was so stunned with disbelief at what he was hearing and what had happened, that he didn't even think about arguing as Thornton simply walked away with his broom in her hands.

He was so shocked that he just stood, rooted to the spot for a few minutes before snapping himself out of his stupor.

With his mouth wide open Harry slowly turned around and continued his walk to the changing rooms.

He didn't know how to act. But seriously what did he expect?

One moment he held the world's best broom in his hands, ready to ride it into the battle of Quidditch, the next it was simply taken away from him.

Just like that.

And the worst thing of all was that Thornton was even fully in her right to take it.

That is, if it really had been jinxed, which it hadn't been, but try explaining that to somebody.

Besides, by the time he did that the game would already be over.

Stunned, Harry realized that Thornton simply didn't care if they won or lost the match, all she cared about was making his life a misery.

And she had the nerve to call him juvenile during classes…

Harry never really noticed when he entered the team's changing rooms and had to be physically stopped and shaken by Sirius who had been waiting for him when he tried to walk through the next door which led to the pitch and that without a broom.

It was only then that the circumstances finally caught up with him and he went from a shocked cold stupor to a red lava hot temper tantrum.

For the next few minutes Harry cursed Thornton in over sixty languages, including Troll, which sounded rather rough and ugly and Mermish, which had kind of a squeaky ring to it.

It took a while before his frightened teammates could quiet him down enough to stop him from destroying the building. Even so the whole room shook from his anger.

Finally one minute before the game was supposed to start, Harry angrily grabbed his spare Nimbus 200 from his locker and stormed onto the pitch.

Even without his broom the match went fairly well.

The Dragons won, without any 'real' problems and the end score was 310 to 120.

An acceptable score at any standards, especially for a completely new team, but the damage had been done.

So enraged by Thornton's actions was he, that Harry found it really difficult to concentrate during the game.

His heart simply wasn't in it.

Instead, at least until he flew right into an opposing Chaser, while not looking where he was flying, which caused a five minute timeout while both players recovered from the crash, Harry had only one topic on his mind.

Thornton had to go.

After that he quickly caught the Snitch, ending the game.

He never stopped to celebrate and without another word he stormed of the pitch.

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**_#Things just got serious_**

That same evening saw Harry dodging Aurors in the corridors.

They had been told to keep an eye on him. However, none of them knew about his powers and so it was easy to, once again, avoid them and leave them none the wiser.

Slowly, he made his way to his heavily used meeting/planning room and base of operations, otherwise known as the fabled Room Of Requirement.

During the past few weeks, the 'room of relief,' as he had now dubbed it had quickly become Harry's Headquarters inside Hogwarts.

Indeed all he ever really did in there was moan about what was happening in his life and plan what he would do about this or that person if he could.

Anything to get things off his chest.

Ever since the disbanding of the Marauders, Harry had recreated a Fidelius Charm over the Room of Requirement, to insure complete privacy from any innocent ears.

Now even the former Marauders didn't know where it was anymore.

Entering the room Harry, still in a rage about the outcome of an otherwise excellent Quidditch match, immediately ordered the room's lights to turn on to their usual military reddish glow, showing that they were on high alert.

After summoning his favorite type of military chair over to him he practically threw himself into it and swiveled around so he could face his advisory council.

Pry as usual, slithered to attention the moment Harry turned to face them. She knew what was about to happen. One look at his enraged face told her all she needed to know.

It was about the only thing which ever happened anymore whenever Harry entered the R.O.R anyway, these days, besides the moaning, which Pry happily joined into too.

Being the most eager one of the group, she was wondering expectantly who the next person to die would be.

Icey blinked at Harry for a second then put her head back under her wing. She didn't really care what Harry had in mind and thought it more interesting to go back to sleep instead.

Ever since the Hogsmeade incident, she had given up on being his good conscience…

What for, it wouldn't work anyway.

At this stage she was only counting her days and waiting for Harry to finish up his missions, if he hadn't improved by then, she would be gone.

Portrait Harry seemed to wake up from a slumber the moment Harry entered the R.O.R.

He, like the other, living Harry, had the same goal – having been created that way- and would do whatever it took to help Harry in his battles for what he hoped would soon become a better world.

"Right ladies… and portrait, I guess, it's time to decide what happens next," Harry announced after a few casual seconds of observing his advisors.

A line which was becoming a rather common topic in the room.

"We have three main topics to discuss tonight, one, getting my damned parents together.

"Two, disposing of that bitch called Thornton.

"And three eliminating the Mad Dog named Maddox…

…I WANT DUMBY BACK!!"

"Now… bringing my stupid parents together, has the highest priority, however, even I don't think we will have much success it doing so while the Dog and the Thorn are in town.

"Therefore, until that happy moment can be reached, they are what we will focus on first.

"First topic:…THORNTON," he screamed out furiously making everybody jump.

"How do we get rid of Thornton?

"I want my house back and I want it now….

"…But overall I want revenge…

"…As an old Muggle saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold…well I want to go one step further…

"I want it freezing.

"THE THORN HAS TO GO!!

"Now…"

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**_#Corridor 6th floor._**

A small flash of light was all Maddox noticed that evening as he walked back from visiting his new Dragon head of house.

With an altered memory he looked around before shrugging.

Not noticing a small shadow, creeping away quietly, he halted for a second, then turned around.

Slowly he headed back the way he came.

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

_**#Thornton's suite, near the Dragon dorms, five minutes later.**_

"Oh… did you forget something?..,"

"Yes, I just had an idea of a dueling club…. I think it would be nice if we…

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**_#Breakfast…_**

The moment Maddox stood up the whole school quieted down.

"I have a special announcement to make," he said.

"I believe the murderer of Hogsmeade is amongst us."

Hearing this, the whole hall gasped and a few looked around themselves nervously.

"Yes…yes…I know…but don't worry, you will be protected…" Maddox continued to speak.

"However, even so, mistakes may happen.

"It is almost impossible to protect each and every one of you around the clock, therefore due to the troubles of the last few weeks and the fact that people are in danger of being attacked at any moment I, and the staff have decided to hold special defense and dueling classes for third to seventh years, starting tomorrow until the end of term."

"For the lower years a special curfew, which will be explained afterwards by your heads of house, will be installed to insure your continued safety."

"For third years and above it is my hope that once you have completed the course, you will be able to defend yourselves and others around you and you will therefore be in less of a chance of being surprised by an attack, which will in turn insure less chance of another murder taking place

"Hopefully whoever he or she is will then think twice before attacking again.

"Starting tomorrow, after classes at six until eight, the great hall will be made available for anybody of third year and above who wishes to improve their skills.

"The classes will be taught by professor Thornton…."

**LAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAPLAP**

**_#Unofficial Dragon House meeting, Dragon Dorms, that evening_**

Harry stood up on a nearby chair after casting a privacy charm around the room, and shot a few sparks into the air to get everybody's attention.

Nearly everybody was arguing about the upcoming dueling club which was going to be taught by none other than the hated professor Thornton.

Everybody seemed very annoyed that she, of all people, had to be teaching it, and therefore, most of them had already decided that they were not going to go, knowing full well that she would be unfair to them and only train the Slytherins anyway.

Even if it would ultimately put their lives in danger.

That, however, was not good enough for Harry.

Noticing that their official leader, –Thornton was the unofficial leader in the Dragons' eyes- wanted to say something, everybody quickly quieted down to listen.

Their respect and admiration towards Harry had only increased in the last few days, following the rumour of what he had done to Maddox and Thornton.

While the staff chose not to believe them, the students however did.

A fact which Harry was going to use to his advantage.

"Thank you," Harry said as soon as he had everybody's attention.

"By now I believe everybody knows that it is the Thorn of Hogwarts who is going to be teaching the Dueling clubs."

Everybody nodded solemnly. It was pretty clear nobody seemed happy about that fact.

"May I also assume that none of you are in any way happy about it?" Harry asked.

Again nods and a few yes answers came to confirm what Harry already knew.

"Will any of you attend these classes?" he asked.

Very few people nodded, most didn't .

"Presuming for a second Thornton were not to teach the class, would you go?"

Everybody seemed to nod their heads.

Harry smiled. That was just what he had hoped for.

"In that case I propose to create our own defense group. A group which will be better than hers, a group which will humiliate hers, a group which will show her just what Hogwarts is all about!"

Harry was greeted with a loud applause and with numerous cries of yes.

"It won't be easy, I'll tell you that now, but we can succeed…ARE YOU WITH ME?" he cried.

Roars of approval met his ears.

Harry smiled.

"In that case…everyone …please read this piece of paper," he said handing a small piece of paper to Sirius. "I'll see you there tomorrow evening…seven o'clock.

Sirius looked at it.

_"The Dragons training room, otherwise known as the Room of Requirement is situated on the 7th floor opposite the statue…"_

Having read what was written on the paper Sirius smiled.

It was going to become a good week.


	17. Rise of the DA

* * *

Harry Potter

Lord of Light and Darkness

Book 1

Life's a Prophecy

Chapter 17

The Rise Of The D.A.

* * *

**S****tandard disclaimers apply.**

**Chapter Beta'd by:** RPMcMurphy from 'Perfect Imagination

**Warning:** corporal punishment in the bottom part of this chapter, for those who don't like this for whatever reasons, you might want to skip it.

* * *

**_#Meanwhile, twenty or so years later in the future, one day after the Burrow Incident._**

It was night time, three days after the recent Burrow incident. Ever so slowly, Ginny woke up from her deep slumber.

Gradually opening her eyes, she found herself in what looked like the familiar environment of the Hogwarts hospital wing.

The first question which came to her mind was what had actually happened.

Her second thought was whether she was dead. Not a bad question to ask, considering what had happened; however, she squashed that thought just as quickly as it had come.

After all, she was in the hospital wing, wasn't she?

Surely that could only mean that she was still alive, if only barely.

After all why would she be in the hospital wing if she were dead.

It didn't make any sense… or did it?

Surely Heaven couldn't be that cruel to her…would it?

Perhaps this was Hell.

Her own personal Hell.

An eternity in the Hospital wing?

Nah… that would be too kind for Hell.

Surely Hell would be worse.

Much worse.

She found her self thinking back through the last few minutes of her life, before she had lost consciousness, and wondered what actually had happened in those last few minutes.

Was everybody else still alright?

Were her parents still alive?

What about Bill?

As far as she knew her mother had been in the house just before the attack.

What happened to her?

Was she the only one left now?

She hoped not.

Those thoughts were racing through her anxious mind as the infirmary door opened and Poppy Pomfrey, the school matron entered the room.

"Ah, thank goodness you're still with us, Ms. Weasley. We were already beginning to believe you wouldn't make it. That was quite a fall you had back there," the nurse said kindly, the moment she noticed her patient was awake.

"Oh," was all Ginny managed to say, weakly, as she looked up at the nurse. She could see signs of strain, tiredness and sorrow coming from the normally cheerful matron.

She really didn't know what to think, let alone say anymore. Should she be happy to still be alive? Was there anything left to be happy about…any reason for her left…to still want to be alive?

"I mean honestly, when that three story house of yours collapsed nobody expected anybody to survive…with over…oh…"

"…Oh dear…shh…shh…it's ok now," Poppy said as she saw Ginny begin to cry.

The moment had obviously become too much for her.

Moving a few steps closer until she was beside her, Poppy sat down on Ginny's bed and put her arms around her.

"Shh…its ok…you're safe now…," she said again, believing that Ginny was suffering from post-traumatic stress and was in shock over what had happened. Which of course she was.

For the next few minutes Ginny simply let her tears fall into Poppy's robes as she tried to assimilate just what had happened to her.

Poppy let a few tears fall herself as she thought back through the terrible last few weeks.

She had lost more patients in the last few weeks, than she had ever lost in her whole life, as a school matron…or even as a medi-trainee back while training at St. Mungo's during the last few months of the first war.

Thinking back, she remembered the last time she had felt anyway as close as she was feeling now. That was around the time when the Potters had died…or before that, when three students had died, one after the other during one particular year, about twenty years ago.

True, only one of the three had been directly in her care at the time, but still…

First had been a boy named Peter…

She couldn't remember his surname anymore.

Poppy remembered he had been one of those quiet students, always in the shadows, never really stood out much.

Even now she still wasn't too sure what had really happened to him.

Thinking back she thought he had been killed while on his way home, but she just wasn't sure anymore.

Somehow she felt sure she had seen him walking down the corridor, that horrible day, just a few hours prior to his alleged death. At a time when, according to the facts, he wasn't supposed to have even been in the school at all, but already at home.

Then there had been a boy named Severus Snape.

Now _he_, she remembered, had been in her care at the time.

The one that had a good hand with potions, she remembered solemnly. Oh how much she could use them now. These days she was always so desperately short in supply.

Quite a few of her recent patients had died because she had not had enough or the right potion to give them.

In fact, just a few weeks ago she even had had to withhold a potion from a dying patient so that she could simply save another….another with a better chance of survival.

How she had hated herself for that…how she still hated herself for that…but it had to be done.

Now thinking about Snape, Poppy felt sure that, had he managed to survive that fateful day he could possibly have become a great potions master, probably one of the greatest, but alas, it had not been to be.

The final one of the trio to die had been a witch named Trixie Black…no…Tricksy Woo …No!

...it was something different…like Bell…a…

Oh, she just couldn't remember anymore.

Either way, that one had been murdered, while on a Hogsmeade trip.

Yes… she could remember that year well. Too well. Well, who wouldn't? It was a rough year.

It was also the famous year when the Dragon house, fifth house of Hogwarts, had been born… and the year of that infamous Hogsmeade day the school had been practically overrun with Aurors and when that dreadful cruel man Madhog…no wait…Maddogs…er…Dox, took over the school.

Even now she shuddered when thinking about that man's deeds.

That man had been a real tyrant, even worse than Umbridge had ever been, during the last year.

Hmm…wasn't that also the year when a former colleague of hers, Thornton and a former student called…

"Ma'am," said Ginny, effectively breaking Poppy out of her musings.

Poppy shook herself from her thoughts to concentrate on her current charge.

This was no time to show weaknesses…not now…not ever… not while she was still alive and kicking, matron of the school.

"Yes, dear?"

"You alright?" Ginny asked, looking worriedly at the nurse. She had noticed the tears on her face. "You were somewhat spaced out a second ago."

"Oh… yes dear… just thinking about the past… the good old years before the first war," she said. A peaceful sort of look came into her eyes which quickly changed into a look of sorrow as she once again inadvertently thought about what had happened to that world since then.

Ginny sighed. "That must have been a wonderful time," she said, just before halting and looking away again, fresh pools of tears threatening to come from her puffy red eyes as she thought about those now long gone blissful years.

The years before Voldemort. The years before the first big campaign. The last few years before the killing really started. The years before… _her_ Harry had died.

Even though she hadn't been around at the time, she found herself longing for those days.

Oh how much she wished for those days. Anything would be better than this.

Poppy, seeing that Ginny was about to cry again, thought it best to stop there and leave her in peace for a while.

Slowly she disentangled herself from her charge and started to move away.

Just before she reached the infirmary door she halted as Ginny asked one last question.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Please, I need to know…did anybody else …you know…"

Ginny simply couldn't make herself say the last few words.

Poppy sighed.

This was the part she hated the most about her job.

The bringing of bad news.

Thinking it best to get it out of the way she spoke.

"I'm sorry… you're the last one left."

With those last few words Poppy left the room.

The last thing she heard before the door closed was a loud heart breaking, devastatingly, defeated wail which originated from the west end of the ward.

* * *

**_#Meanwhile twenty years in the past, Room of Relief or Utmost Pain, Dragon HQ, (formerly known as the Room of Requirement) _**

"MOVE MOVE MOVE, you slimy pieces of flobberworm crap," came Harry's voice from the front of the group.

"I don't know how you expect to duel with that attitude, move before I make you wish you did," he shouted as he led his fellow Dragons and a few students from the other houses on their run, laps around the room. A room which was at the moment a respectable two kilometers is length.

"Will he ever shut up," wheezed Sirius from somewhere in the middle of the pack of exhausted students as they passed the starting line for the umpteenth time.

"The question I want to ask is when will _we_ stop?" asked Remus from beside him. He was very red in the face and puffing heavily.

"Shh… be quiet and save your breath for running, or else he'll make us run until midnight…or later," said Lily in between her own tired breaths. From the group she was the only one of the trio who seemed to be in any sort of good shape, which was probably due to the frequent runs she made herself do during the summer.

"I don't care what he says if he doesn't stop…soo-ufff…OW!…damn it, where did that stone come from?" Sirius swore as he tripped over a rock which just seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"All right there, lads… take a two minute break and then we will start learning a few new spells," came Harry's amused voice from the front.

"Oh thank heavens for small mercies," said Remus who let himself drop to the ground like a wet sack of potatoes.

"He's lucky he's running with us, otherwise…"

He left the rest unsaid.

"Well lads… having fun?" Harry asked, stepping up to the trio just before Sirius could finish his last comment.

All he received were a few hateful glares.

"No…pity…because I'll have you running a marathon, or at the very least a half-marathon before the competition…and a ten kilometer hike up a mountain with a few pounds on your back…"

"OH… you got to be kidding me," Sirius practically wailed in despair, a statement which was echoed pitifully by students all around him.

"No, I'm deadly serious" said Harry with a smile which promised future pain and hardships.

Sirius was so shocked by this new revelation that he never even commented that he, not Harry was called 'Sirius'.

"Right…kiddies…," said Harry turning away from the group, time to learn a favourite spell of mine…separate into groups…the words are…."

"Murder me, Remy," said Sirius as he momentarily tuned out of Harry's speech, just before he crawled forwards on all fours to join a group.

"No…it's your turn Siri…I did it last time," Remus said just before he followed, limping slightly.

Lily giggled.

From a hidden spot of the room Portrait Harry did the same, although it was more of a laugh.

"You there, less talking, more listening…down onto the floor, give me fifty, "Harry roared.

Slowly, exhaustedly they complied.

"I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!...IS THAT CLEAR!!" came Harry's voice again, from the back.

"SIR! YES! SIR! "

"Good!" he said just before kicking a fellow student into the rear end, simply because he was slacking off.

Surprisingly he let Harry do so without complaint.

* * *

**_#Headmaster's Office, a few days later_**

"Adrian, I'm telling you, something is not right with those Dragons," Thornton said from her seat in the Headmaster's office.

"Oh, and why is that? asked the recipient of those words.

"I'm not really sure but most nights all of the Dragons seem to… be missing from the school. It's strange, it's like they simply vanish some nights and don't return until just before curfew.

"It's maddening… I'm positive… I simply know they and that Granger boy are up to something…"

Arian sighed softly as he heard his Dragon Head of house complain about her favorite student, every bit of pun intended.

Well, Harry was her favorite student, to pick on, and he fully supported it the same way he supported her actions for all the other students.

He liked the way it kept Harry and his friends busy with Thornton and off his back while he went around his other two more important tasks, to spy for the Ministry and to suss out potential recruits for his other, real master, the Dark Lord.

Especially Harry. That boy gave him the chills.

"Have you any evidence that they are doing something…anything which the school rules may not allow?" he asked forcing himself out of his own musings.

"That's just it…I can't find them…if I can't find them I can't catch them," Thornton said furiously.

"I already have a large amount of the Slytherins on the look out for the other houses, but unless they are actually caught doing something… illegal, there isn't anything I can do."

"That's all very good and wonderful Adi, but if you, their head of house, can't catch them, and you practically sleep beside them, what makes you think I could help? What do you want from me?" asked Adrian Maddox, who was beginning to get bored listening to her whining.

"Give me permission to put Tracking Charms on the students…especially the Dragons," she answered quickly.

"Hmm," said Maddox who seemed to be busy studying his fingernails.

"Alright… I'll see what I can do, I'll get permission from the Ministry and the Governors to do so later on today…I'm sure Malfoy, Nott and Mrs. Black would be more than happy to accommodate me. Do you think you can wait that long?"

"Sure, that would be wonderful," Thornton answered, a triumphant smile back on her face.

"I'll also ask the portraits to keep a look out for any…lost students. Sadly the ghosts won't listen to me anymore, for some reason… "

"…Which reminds me, I have to ask for _them_ to send me someone who can get rid of that pesky Poltergiest…" he said to himself in a low voice.

Thornton, who managed to catch what he said, grinned. She never did like that menace anyway. It would be good to get rid of him.

Thanking Maddox, she left his office. She had a speech to prepare. A speech where she would explain to her Dragons that they would have a Tracking Charm placed on them soon. For their own personal safety, of course. After all, they had a crazed killer on the loose. It's the least she could do for their safety. At least that's what she would tell them all.

* * *

**_# Next day, Potions_**

Harry was once again in a bad mood.

Thornton had done it again.

That wrench had somehow managed to persuade Maddox to allow her to place Tracking Charms on all of his friends and soldi…er… fellow Dragolets.

Because of that he had already had to cancel the last DA meeting and was now spending several nights searching though several books in the restricted section of the Library for a way out of this newest mess.

That woman was really beginning to irk him into great and terrible, righteous anger. Not a good thing if you knew what Harry could be like when angry.

He could of course remove the charms. But that would certainly alert the Thorn, and in extension the Dog.

While it might give everybody a day or two of blissful freedom, at the most, all she would have to do is force through a legislation forbidding the removal of said charms.

No…that wouldn't do, that wouldn't do at all, he needed to think of something better.

What about if he moved the charms to peoples beds or chairs in the dormitory common room?

No, he thought, she would only have to walk in and then everything would be lost.

_What about if we train during the middle of the night, instead of during the day, when Thorny is asleep_? he thought while stirring his cauldron.

_It's not like as if we could be in any more trouble…could we? After all, they can't really expel a whole house… or rather three quarters of the school…can they?_

_If it gets really bad, I could always Obliviate the whole lot of them, after I have taken care of Thorny and Maddy of course, but that could become messy_. Besides, he wasn't really allowed to do that.

But then again, Maddox was never supposed to have been in the school either…

Surely it wouldn't matter if something accidently happened to him…

It would only be an added bonus if the Thorn fell down a staircase in the process…wouldn't it?

_Well, I think I'll do both, remove the charms and place them on peoples beds and have them training during the night._

_Sadly I don't know how to make time turners…people will be very tired during the day…_

_Hmm, what about if I gave them some of my eternal light, night and day walker potion? _

A potion which had been forgotten about many hundred years ago and which he only knew about due to his special training.

_It should keep them awake through the whole night and the next day…_

_Everybody would only need to sleep every second day…_

_Yes, that could work…_

_Yes…th.._

"…ANSWER ME!!"

Harry jumped, startled out of his musings. He had been so focused on thinking up a plan that he hadn't noticed himself stirring his potion the wrong way, and he had forgotten to add some of the rune spore livers which he was supposed to add.

"Oops…er…sorry about that…er… I…wasn't …"

"Yes, it's very clear you weren't paying any attention at all…were you?"

"Look at this, just look at this mess. Detention for the rest of the week and restricted Curfew for the rest of the night," Thornton screamed, as she vanished Harry's black, purple and hostile smelling mess.

"Yes ma'am," said Harry, meekly, his anger for now forgotten.

Well, it had been his fault, really. He deserved this one, he thought, slightly embarrassed about what he had done. Re-filling his cauldron with fresh water once more he started to remake his potion.

* * *

**_# That evening, Dragon Dormitories_**

Finally finished with his latest bout of, what was for once well earned, deserved detention, Harry stepped through the Dragon entrance portrait with only one thing in mind.

Well, perhaps two.

One: to tell his troops about his newest plans, in their war against the Thorn and Dog.

The second: to get some sleep, because he felt somewhat tired.

Gutting horned armoured toads for potions was not only disgusting but also very tiring to say the least.

Especially when you have to clean out the same cauldrons where they were afterwards, and that under the strict eyes of a hated professor, whose sole mission in life is to torment you.

The last time he felt so tired was after a grueling session with the devil.

_I must be going soft_, he thought.

Entering the dorms, those illusions were however quickly shattered, when he saw none other than his present girlfriend, Lily Evans, his future mother to be, look up and beckon him to come over to her.

_Oh damn_, he thought, not completely sure whether he felt up to it at that moment.

With a small sigh, Harry quickly placed a forced smile on his face and walked over.

He wasn't really sure why he was dating her at present...or at all for that matter. After all, she was supposed to go out with James, not him.

However, Harry didn't want to risk losing her completely, not now, not when it seemed more and more unlikely everyday that those two were to get together any time soon.

Harry thought that perhaps, if he would stay as her boyfriend he could, somehow, get them together again later on.

After all, he was friends with both of them, although looking at James who was brooding quietly in the corner, he had to admit, things were not going to plan.

Thinking about it he realized, maybe he _really_ was only friends with one of them.

That thought really disturbed him, greatly.

Poor James. He really took the loss of his Head Boy badge rather strongly.

If anything, the hate he felt for his unknown future son had only grown since then.

Harry wouldn't have cared about that if he were to get together with his future mum…

Damn that still sounds strange.

…however, the complete opposite seemed to be happening.

He would have gladly surrendered Lily to him…but…

Since the Hogsmeade disaster, neither could even come close to each others, due to the separation spell the Hogs-thorn and Hogs-dog duo had placed on them.

Now the only other time, besides the common room and the Room of Requirement, where they could come even a mere meter close to each others was during class time, when they were required to be in the same room. The rest of the time it wasn't even possible to come within ten meters of each others.

There wasn't enough space to be effectively separated from each other in the common room and Harry had taken care of that problem for the R.O.R.

Still, it wasn't all bad.

At least it gave Harry a sort of a safe haven away from James whenever he needed it, since all he ever had to do was stick close to Lily.

Sometimes it seemed to Harry as if the only thing that was keeping James interested in Lily… was him and his moves towards her.

Even if his interest seemed to be purely out of jealousy.

Harry wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do.

Taking a seat beside Lily he gasped when she practically jumped onto his lap and started to kiss him.

Panicking inwardly, Harry really felt like running away at that moment, but refrained from doing so.

He was after all being kissing by his future mother, not something anybody would really want to do.

Well, a kiss is ok, perhaps, from time to time, in a loving, mother- son way. He _was_ after all her future son, even if in the future… but…no, no, no, not like this, not romantically.

YUCK!

Still, he gave her back as much as she gave him. It was all part of his plan for the greater future good, as he called it. He had to act his part.

My, how much he was becoming to hate those words, but, nobody ever said he had to like it, just to accept it…and do it.

Ten minutes later, satisfied for the moment, Lily detached herself from Harry, who was sweating slightly.

Frowning at what she was seeing she decided to speak:

"What's wrong, Harry? Are you ok?"

Taken somewhat by surprise by the comment Harry quickly answered:

"Yes, of course."

_Like I'd say anything else,_ he thought.

"Well, it doesn't look like it. Are you sure? We don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know," she said somewhat hesitantly, afraid that she had messed up somehow.

"NO!…no…that's ok…er…"

_Oh what the heck! In for a Knut, in for the Galleon…,_ he thought.

"I do love you…I'm just not used to this," Harry said just before he stopped her from retorting by covering her mouth with another kiss, successfully silencing the girl.

_Well it is true…I AM not used to this…and I hope I never will be…thank heavens that I do love her though…just differently._

During the kiss he was doing his best to think of Ginny, his true love and replace the woman on his lap with her, instead of who he was actually kissing.

It sort of helped…somewhat.

"Oh cut it out and get a room, will you," James remarked sharply, before stomping out of the room, careful all the way to stay as far away from the couple as he could.

"Shut it, Potty Poo," said Lily nastily.

_Shit!_ was Harry's only mental reply.

Another five minutes and a huge kiss later, Harry finally managed to dislodge himself from Lily's mouth.

_This isn't going to plan at all_, he thought.

"Well, see you later hun," Lily said, dazed from their latest sudden kiss, as she began to get up from his lap, satisfied with what she had received.

"Wait…er…where are you going?" Harry asked before he could stop himself, regretting it almost immediately.

_I'm so screwed,_ he thought.

"Oh, no where really. I have some homework to finish…want to join me?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Sorry…not now… maybe later," Harry answered somewhat quickly, then remembered…"I have an announcement to make though…"

"An announcement?" asked Lily, immediately interested, perking up, immediately wondering whether it could be about her.

"Yes, an announcement. I was going to make it before...well you know…that happened…well…em… anyway…," Harry said, blushing slightly.

"Oh...ok," said Lily somewhat disappointed, but she hid it well. Looking at him now it seemed clear it wasn't going to be about her after all.

Taking a deep breath Harry collected his thoughts and before he could say anything else which he might somehow regret, he walked to the middle of the room, placed a few high level Privacy Charms on the doors and then called for everybody's attention.

"AHEM…Excuse me everybody…"

Immediately everybody stopped what they were doing and turned to listen.

"Thank you…"

"You ok mate?…you seem kinda red," came a voice from the back of the room.

"Er…yes…of course….now…"

Now really flustered, Harry paused for a second to collect his thoughts. Lily had unnerved him more than he thought.

_I really have to get those two together soon, or else I'm going to go insane, either that or do something unforgivable,_ he thought.

"As I wanted to say…"

"Thornton …yes…?" asked a voice.

"Er…yes," said Harry.

_Oh come on Harry, get yourself together man…_

"I... I believe nobody is happy with what she has recently done…right?" he asked.

A chorus of agreement returned to him.

"Oh, ok...good…because I may have a way around that."

Immediately, hearing this, everybody perked up. Everybody in the room were very angry with what had happened, as they all knew what Thornton really had in mind, and all wanted to get rid of the tracking charms as soon as possible.

"Starting from tomorrow, every night after one in the morning to six we are going to resume training…."

"What? How?" came a few voices from the back of the room.

"…Please let me finish…," Harry said loudly, his nerves back the way they were before Lily kissed him.

"… every night after one in the morning, once Thornton is asleep, we will go to train in the ROR…"

Raising his voice another bit as a few people were beginning to complain he continued:

" I WILL…be giving everybody who wishes to participate a special potion which…which…."

"That's too late…" "What about classes in the morning?… I will be too tired to…," came multiple complaints from different people around the room who had stopped listening in order to complain.

"…SILENCE!!" Harry roared as the noise level in the room had begun to get a little too loud for people to hear him.

Immediately the room quieted down and Harry continued as if nothing had happened:

"As I was saying…I will be giving everybody a special potion which will keep all of those willing to participate wide awake for the whole night and the whole next day. It will also improve everybody's concentration levels, so you should have no problems what so ever attending your classes.

"I SHALL, be highly displeased with anybody who misses a class without a very good reason.

"Training will only take place every three days, to counteract any potential side effects from not having enough sleep.

"Along with the potion I will also be removing the Tracking Charm from yourselves and attaching it to your beds during each training period. Since that is where they expect you to be, nobody will come looking for us.

"I will of course regrettably have to reattach the charm on to you again afterwards so that our dear head of house will not gain any reasons to be more suspicious anymore than she already is.

"Lily, I will teach you the spells to detect, remove, and attach the charm so you can do it for the girls," he said looking over at Lily who nodded before giving him one of her smiles.

"Good, now any questions?…does everybody want to do this?" he asked.

"What if Thornton decides to walk in here and check up on us?" somebody asked.

"She won't," Harry answered.

"Yes… right…but what if she does...there is always the chance?" asked the same voice.

"She won't," Harry said again, slightly louder, glaring at the boy, wishing the idiot would shut up before he ruined everything, as a few people were beginning to look doubtful.

Apparently getting the message, if reluctantly, the boy shut up but left the room in a huff.

Sighing to himself, Harry made a note to Obliviate him before he could raise any further doubts amongst the others.

Besides, Harry already had a few plans laid out for that situation. One of which was to ask Hogwarts herself to block of certain passageways for the night so that Thornton couldn't reach them. The other to have the ghosts, particularly Peeves, who was also being threatened, to keep look outs and run diversions.

The little poltergeist had been more than willing to help after he had found out about the Thorn and Dogs plans to excommunicate him.

The other ghosts, seeing one of their numbers threatened – even if it was the pesky little annoying poltergeist - quickly followed his lead.

As an heir to a founder (a real, original founder), they would listen to him before a headmaster, or any imposter like Maddox anyway.

"Any further questions? Harry asked again.

It was a credit to the trust and blind obedience everybody had towards him that nobody seemed to question him any further and no one seemed to care that Harry had never answered the boy's question.

"No…wonderful …alright, meet up there tomorrow night at ten to one for your next lessons."

"AFTER…Lily or myself have taken care of your charms," he added quickly.

That said Harry turned and left the room to alter the memories of the boy who had spoken.

* * *

**_# Meanwhile, in Heaven_**

"What in the name of Faith and Chaos is he doing?" asked James as he looked at Harry from his cloudy window above.

"He's trying to bring you and Lily back together again and to train the school against the Thorn…and d..hog," Sirius answered in a nonplussed voice. Sirius took offence from Maddox being called a dog.

"Though I must admit, things are not going to plan."

"Why what do you think he's doing?"

"Oh Harry, I don't know…I really don't know…please don't…it will only go wrong," James said, worried that Harry may do something foolish….

…again.

He wasn't listening to Sirius beside him.

"James, are you listening to me?" asked Sirius.

"What are you doing, Harry?" James asked himself once more.

His feet were already edging towards the nearest exit, ready to rush for help, should Harry need it.

"You know what?" Sirius said, looking at James seriously.

"Careful, Harry," said James.

"James, come quick, look, Harry is shagging Lily…and he's doing it doggy style too," said Sirius.

"Harry, please be careful," said James, still not hearing Sirius.

"Okay…I think you need to stop worrying about him for once and take a much needed break," Sirius said and pressed a button on a nearby remote control.

"Harry…WHA?"

At that moment, almost immediately, the window James had been looking through disappeared.

"HEY!" James shouted. "How am I supposed to keep an eye on…"

"The idea is that you don't," said Sirius, cutting him off.

"But…"

"I want to hear no further comments from you about Harry for at least the next few days, preferably weeks, or else I'll get Lily over here to take you by the ear," Sirius threatened with a smile.

"But…"

"Besides, by the way your relationship with her is progressing below, you'd better enjoy any time you can have with her…while you still can," Sirius added in a matter of fact voice.

That got James's attention.

"You don't really mean…they wouldn't …I mean…he couldn't possibly…we wouldn't…would we?" James asked, shocked.

"It could very well happen…" Sirius answered.

"But…it can't…it isn't possible…how will Harry…"

"Shush…I'm sure he will be just fine," said Sirius.

"But what if.."

"JAMES, SHUT UP! THAT'S ENOUGH. You're driving me nuts," Sirius practically roared.

"Sirius?"

"Go, Lily is waiting for you."

"But…"

"James!"

..

..

..

"Ok."

* * *

**_#Headmaster's Office, Round Two_**

"Oh hello, Adi… back so soon? Are your little Dragons still giving you sleepless nights? Maddox joked as Thornton walked back into his office.

Thornton gave him a glare in return.

"Well…everything seems to be all right," she answered him, though it was fairly clear from her expression and tone of voice that it wasn't.

"The Tracking Charms you placed on them seem to be working, but…"

Thornton hesitated, unsure of how to continue.

Sensing this, Maddox prompted her, "But?..."

"…But, well…there have been no more night time strolls since we placed them," Thornton continued.

Maddox raised his eyebrows and for a second fought the desire to roll his eyes.

"And I'm sure your unhappy about that…because?..."

Sensing that she was beginning to make a fool of herself Thornton quickly continued. "Because that doesn't explain why the castle walls and starways seem to want me away from the 7th floor, or why there is no movement what so ever in the Dragon dormitories during the night and they are all in bed, when it has been quite common enough for students to walk around in their common rooms in the past, even after one in the morning.

"After all it's not against the rules to be in the common room after hours…just not outside of it.

"And then there are also the ghosts who have been acting somewhat peculiarly lately," she added as an after thought.

That got Maddox's attention. Maddox, who had been listening quietly to her, perked up at the last part.

"Yes, I must admit, that is strange," he said mumbling to himself.

He too had been experiencing the ghost's sudden change of attitude and he wondered what it meant.

"That is…disturbing…," he said quietly to himself, then looked back at his Head of House.

"Very well… I'll look into this, please continue to do the same."

With a nod, slightly relieved, Thornton left the room.

"I think it's time to fast forward our plans a bit," Maddox mumbled to himself the moment Thornton was gone.

Rising from his chair, Maddox walked over to the fireplace and grabbed some powder from a jar above it.

A second later his head was in the fire.

"Ah, yes…hello, Baltimore, isn't it…please be so kind and … request a moment of our Lord's precious time. I believe I may have some information which might interest him..."

* * *

**_# The battles continue_**

"Harry! Harry! Quick!…," a student shouted, rushing through the doors of the Room of Requirement.

With a sigh Harry paused from writing on the nearby board which he was presently using to explain a rather difficult question about one of Slytherins laws concerning the reactions of certain ingredients while preparing potions during the full moon.

Around him multiple third year students from four of Hogwarts five houses paused from copying what he had written, to do the same.

It was during the day and Harry was in the middle of teaching a Remedial Potions class, busy trying to help a few fellow students who were struggling with their potions studies.

He had specially put aside the last hour of his rather limited free time to do this and was therefore somewhat annoyed when he was interrupted, as his time was rather limited.

"Archer, can I help you?...You do realise that I am in the middle of an important class here at the moment," Harry said doing his best to keep any sign of annoyance from showing in his voice.

For a second Archer looked sheepish, realising what he has just interrupted, but quickly remembered the reason why he had come.

"Harry, its Jonathan and Lisa, you must help them, they are about to be caught by 'T' and we have no way of alerting or helping them."

Harry immediately became alert, "What's wrong…where are they, what happened," he asked, quickly moving away from the board.

Lisa Bletchley was quite important to him in his current plans as she had a few useful contacts within the Ravenclaw students from the lower years.

Losing her in any way, due to suspension or worse, could be a serious blow to his recruiting plans, at least when it came to the house of the intellect. A lot of the 1st to 3rd year Ravens seemed to listen to her and her loss would be seriously felt.

His class forgotten, Harry put his whole attention on the problem at hand.

"Lisa had the idea of sneaking into T's office when she wasn't there to find out about any information on what she and 'Mad' might know about us or what they are planning. It would have worked too if a few Slytherins hadn't locked the door with them inside."

Hearing this, Harry's expression turned from anxious to dark and serious.

"How much time have we left before T is back from…where ever she is?"

"Not much, she is already on her way…two minutes…maybe less," said the very worried Archer.

"ICEY," Harry shouted.

With a white flash of ice which showered everybody in the room, emitting loud squeals and yelps from everybody nearby, Icey appeared on a nearby table.

"Your Lordship rang?" the phoenix said, looking quite bored.

Ignoring his sulking familiar's tone Harry turned to face her.

Icetasia still hadn't forgiven him his rash, badly planned….and overall exceedingly dark… actions of the past few weeks.

"Yes I did, I need you to quickly flash into the DADA class room before Thornton or Maddox can reach it. There are two students, a girl from Ravenclaw and a boy from Huffelpuff there. Bring them here... Immediately .

"As you Lordship desires," Icey replied and flashed away.

With a sigh Harry conjured himself a seat and sat down. He could only hope Icey would not be too late.

* * *

**_#DADA classroom, Thornton's private office,_**

"Lisa, we can't get out…the Thorn squad is outside and it doesn't look like as if they are going anywhere soon," said Jonathan anxiously from the door.

Lisa, who was at that moment scouring the cupboards of Thornton's huge oak table for anything which could incriminate Thornton and Co, stopped what she was doing and looked up in dismay.

"What, already…it's only been...what?...five minutes?" she exclaimed, horrified.

"I knew this was a bad idea," said Jonathan miserably as he took another look at the door which was the only way out of the classroom. At least it was the only relatively safe way out of the classroom. The other was through a window and then over the roof. Not in any way a pleasant thought….it was dangerous, and besides, he was scared of heights.

"We know you're in there, little bitsy Lisa," came a voice from outside. It sounded like the person outside was singing.

Hearing this, Lisa, who had abandoned her search in favour of helping Jonathan, gasped.

"Oh no, how am I ever going to get out of this," she said, whimpering slightly, thinking about what her parents would say when she were expelled. She was pretty sure that she would be.

"It's no use resisting, little itsy bitsy spider," came the childish mocking voice again.

"We even have the pictures to prove it, right here," said another laughing voice, this time of a female.

"Narcissa! You bitch," screamed Lisa as she recognised the voice. She immediately wished she hadn't, but was too late.

Beside her Jonathan groaned. Now the game was definitely up.

Outside what now seemed to be a whole group were laughing with delight.

Realising that she was completely caught and overwhelmed by the situation, Lisa let herself fall to the ground and quietly began to cry. She didn't know how she would get out of this mess.

Beside her Jonathan was doing his best to comfort her, but he knew that he too was caught and not much better off. In a few minutes Thornton herself would arrive and then he and Lisa would most likely be out of the school before they could even say…

At that moment he and Lisa yelped as Icey flashed into the room.

"Icey!" said Lisa in surprise, hope suddenly reappearing in her eyes as she saw the magnificent bird, but the fleeting smile soon disappeared again to be replaced with sorrow.

Jonathan began to laugh as he realised that they could escape.

His smile however vanished a moment later when he turned round to face Lisa. She wasn't smiling, instead it only seemed as if more tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Lisa, what's wrong," he said, surprised by what he was seeing. "What are you waiting for? Grab on! Don't you realise what this means…we are safe now," he said, grabbing hold of one of Icey's feathers, careful not to pull too hard in case he might hurt the bird.

Lisa, however, shook her head sadly.

"Not for me…John…they know about me…you heard them", she sobbed. "If it's true what they said, they even have the photos to prove it," Lisa said through her tears.

Jonathan's previous look of relief turned to complete horror and disbelief.

"What…NO!... Lisa…Grab…"

Jonathan never got to say the last few words as at that moment both could hear Thornton return.

"Where is she?" they heard Thornton say from outside the door.

"Please…," Jonathan pleaded one more time but like before Lisa simply shook her head. She seemed to be resigned to her fate.

Before Jonathan could retort, Icey, who had been becoming increasingly impatient during the last few minutes flashed away, leaving Lisa behind in an otherwise empty room.

She was just in time as in that direct moment the door opened and Thornton stormed inside, a wicked gleeful smile spouting all over her face when she saw her prey in the room.

Lisa, seeing that all was lost, let herself fall to the ground once more.

* * *

**_#Room of Requirement_**

"NOOOOO! LIISSSAA!" screamed Jonathan the moment he reappeared in the R.O.R.

"Why Lisa? Why?" he said again as he too fell to the ground as he was released from Icetasia claws.

Harry, realising that Icey had returned, ran over to Jonathan.

"John, are you alright? Did she see you?..." Then realising that Lisa wasn't there he added, "Where is Lisa?"

"She...she...she," Jonathan tried to say, stuttering at every word, but couldn't.

Harry knew that Jonathan and Lisa had been a couple, so he waited patiently for Jonathan to calm down.

Besides, it would have done no good anyway either way to react harshly towards the boy.

One thing was clear though, Harry didn't need a sage or seer around to realise from the loyal Hufflepuff's face that Lisa had been caught.

Soon realising however, that Jonathan was not going to calm down any time soon, Harry motioned towards a fellow student to take care of Jonathan.

That done, Harry stood up and started to traverse towards the door his robes billowing behind him as he walked.

"Where are you going?" asked a nearby nervous student. Nobody present had ever seen Harry this intense and threatening before.

"I'm off to save the day," said Harry darkly, halting, as he opened the door of the R.O.R..

Without turning to face his friends and fellow students, his face still facing the door Harry added:

"Someone has to do the dirty work and it looks like as usual that I'm the one who has what it takes to do it…The only one who can." With that he left the room, leaving a bunch of shocked and frozen students behind.

At that same moment, Thornton, who was feeling exhilarated from her capture, lost no time in dragging Lisa to Maddox's office.

However, she soon found that Maddox had gone down to the Great Hall.

Presuming that it was for lunch, Thornton gleefully dragged Lisa by her ear towards the great hall instead.

She was going to make an example of this brat and where could there possibly be a better place to do just that then in front of the whole student body, during the school afternoon lunch.

Lisa, for her part, simply let her drag her around. She was much too downtrodden and resigned to her fate to fight back at this point anyway. However, when she realised that it was going to be in front of the whole school she began to panic. This was beginning to become a nightmare.

Grinning evilly at the frantically shaking girl beside her, Thornton opened the Great Hall door with a great push and walked through only to halt in surprise.

In front of Maddox stood none other than Scorpius Malfoy, the Minister's greatest advisor and right hand.

Frozen for a second, taken by surprise at the sight of the Ministry official she was momentarily unsure of what to do. Thornton was about to turn around and come back at a later stage when Maddox saw her.

"Ah, here is the woman of the hour," he said cheerfully as he saw Thornton, then he paused as he saw Lisa beside her with Thornton's fingers attached to her ear.

"Oh!" he said, taken by surprise.

"What's wrong?" asked Malfoy, turning around.

"Ah!... "

He raised his eyebrows as he saw what Maddox meant.

Seeing that she was in this for better or worse, and she hoped it was for the better and not the worse, Thornton decided to make the best of the situation.

"I beg your pardon, Sir, I don't wish to intrude."

"Madam Thornton, why are you… holding onto that girl's ear?" Malfoy asked, interested at what he was seeing.

"I…er…you see…Lisa here…er…," she said quickly releasing Lisa's ear in the process as if stung.

For a second Lisa began to smile…that smile was however quickly erased by what happened next.

"I asked her to bring the child here, Scorpi," Maddox said with an evil smile on his face, using his friend's nick name.

Hearing this, the whole hall fell silent as everybody stopped to listen.

Everybody present, staff and students, stared in complete shock. Surely this could not be good.

Both Lisa and Thornton looked surprised, though in Thornton's case she quickly hid it.

"You?" she asked. "You asked me to…oh… of course yes…I remember now…well…here she is…," Thornton said, flustered.

She didn't know what to think.

"Yes, thank you," Maddox said before turning back to face Malfoy.

None of them seemed to care in the least that Thornton had been nearly pulling Lisa's ear off as they had arrived.

"You see Scor...," Maddox continued speaking, "…I have reasons to believe that this girl, Lisa Bletchley," he said motioning towards Lisa who was now staring at him wide eyed, her eyes filled with terror at what was happening, "is in fact a member of a student task force working for the Dark Lord in recruiting students for the Dark Lord's cause."

Everybody gasped in alarm and horror as he said this, though most for completely different reasons.

"I see!..." said Malfoy, totally undisturbed by Maddox's claim.

"Very well…take her away…," he added a second later, motioning to somebody behind him.

Suddenly Lisa realized that a few Aurors were present and had followed Malfoy to Hogwarts. She became ghostly white and started to shake her head in complete denial.

The Aurors trained their wands on Lisa, who couldn't believe what was happening to her. It was like her worst nightmare coming true.

Without even taking a moment to consider whether Maddox was even saying the truth, or not, two of the Aurors present stepped closer and stunned and bound Lisa in thick ropes.

Nobody knew what only Maddox and Scorpius knew: that they were in fact Death Eaters, all disguised as Aurors.

"However, that isn't everything?" Maddox said, speaking up so that everybody in the room could hear him, effectively halting the Death Eater Aurors in their tracks before they could leave.

Malfoy smiled and motioned for Maddox to proceed once he was sure they had everybody's attention again.

"Lisa isn't the main problem here," Maddox said, snidely looking at Lisa as if she was a piece of filth, which to him she was.

"Miss Bletchley here, while indeed guilty of her crimes, is not actually the main problem here. She is, in fact, only a small fish in the pond so to speak."

Hearing this multiple students closed their eyes. The horror they were hearing and seeing was making them feel sick.

"Yes, yes, I agree, it's sad what the world is coming to. Here we are in a school, surrounded by so many innocent students…all of which desperately need to be protected…," Maddox continued speaking, looking mainly towards the Slytherins as he spoke, " …but the real danger here is not actually Miss Bletchley but a completely different person altogether, a person, who, I know for sure, from a reliable source, is actually the Dark Lord's current apprentice."

This caused an uproar.

After hearing these words multiple students and teachers began to argue.

It was practically a miracle that no harmful spells were fired during that time.

As it was, it didn't take long for the present DEA's to subdue everybody present and soon it was as if nothing had happened.

Maddox continued as if nothing had happened.

"The Apprentice of the Dark Lord is a student, of this very establishment called Harry Granger," he said victoriously.

This time the hall was deathly quiet.

Nobody spoke as Maddox's last words rang through the hall.

Everybody held their tongues and many hoped that what had just been said was not true.

Many didn't even consider to believe what their fake headmaster had said could possibly be true.

Nobody spoke…

…nobody but one…

…a small eleven year old girl.

"That's not true," said the small first year girl named Katie Dawson from the crowds. "And you know it," she added defiantly before anybody could stop her.

Many of the teachers present closed their eyes in anguish as they heard her speak.

This was surely not the right time to speak out against their educational tyrant of an overlord.

"Oh and who would you be, young lady, to know better than the Headmaster and Mr. Malfoy, confidant and advisor to the Minister and highly valued member of the Wizengamot, " said Thornton, giving her one of her evil glares.

"Shut up, bitch, you can't say anything, you never ever liked him anyway," the girl responded angrily.

The whole hall gasped.

Thornton was practically boiling over with rage, she was so red.

"My, my, my, what nasty words I hear…," said Malfoy with a sneer.

"Oh shut up, Smellboy," said the girl again, effectively wiping the sneer of Malfoys face.

This time no gasp was heard, only stunned silence.

Slowly Malfoys expression changed to one of great anger.

"Insolent whelp, who do you think you are?" he roared and advanced towards the little girl menacingly.

Two students tried to stand in his way in the futile hope that somebody would stop him, but nobody did.

Katie, suddenly realized what she had done, and like Lisa before her, she took a moment to look around the room for help.

Nobody was smiling, and no snickers could be heard.

Now very afraid, she tried to back away from the advancing man but found her path blocked by two of Thorn's Slytherins, who were grinning down evilly at her. It was fairly clear they were looking forward to what was about to come.

The girl gulped and again looked at some of her fellow students for help but only found looks of shock and helplessness in their eyes.

Silently she pleaded with them but again only found looks of pity and some of the older students even looked away.

"Oh," she said quietly to herself, feeling completely helpless, which she was, just before Malfoy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the crowd.

Malfoy conjured himself a throne like seat in the middle of the hall and sat down in it then with another quick motion he pulled the girl over his lap.

"Oh no…please don't," the girl whimpered, petrified, as she fully realized what was about to happen to her, but it was all in vain.

A second later she felt her skirt move up, away from her legs and fall over her shoulders, then in one swift motion her knickers were removed, exposing her bare bottom for all to see.

Horrified and greatly embarrassed, she only managed to murmur one last plea of, "please don't," which fell on deaf ears, before the first stoke fell.

TWACK!!

OW!!

Twack!

Oh!

Swish….TWACK!!

OUCH!!

SLAP!!

OWIEEE

Spank!

Ahh!!

Malfoy had conjured himself a huge wooden paddle and was hitting her with all of his might.

Nearly all of the students present and a lot of the staff looked away at what they were seeing.

Many were deeply disgusted at what was happening but felt powerless to do anything about it.

Silently a 3rd year Gryffindor sneaked out of the hall when nobody was watching him.

Most of the Slytherins, however, mainly those from the Thorn squad, watched with excitement and some were even beginning to chortle at the girl's screams.

Some edged forward for a closer look.

Thornton simply had a huge sickening smile on her face. It was a sickening sight.

SLAP!

OW!

Twack!

Sob!

TWACK!!

OOOH!

SLAP!!!

OW!

The punishment seemed to go on forever and Malfoy didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Slap after slap, stoke after stroke fell, to be replaced only by the girl's many cries of misery.

Tears were rolling down her face and the girl's buttocks were bright red and glowing.

Meanwhile, in the watching crowd, Lily, who had always had a kind heart, was using all of her self control to stop herself from losing control and reacting to the cries of the girl.

It was a lost battle.

Suddenly she couldn't take it any more.

"STOP!" she cried.

The hall froze and the slaps ceased.

Everybody turned to look at her and it took every bit of courage she had to not shrink away.

"Who said that?" Malfoy asked angrily from where he sat. The girl was still over his lap, sobbing hysterically from where she lay, his right hand was raised, holding the paddle, ready for the next swat.

"Please, sir!" Lily said.

Now really frightened and sorry, wishing that she had never spoken, hoping that if she used a respectful tone it might help, she continued to speak.

"…I don't mean any disrespect, Sir, but I think she has had enough."

That evidently was a bad thing to say as the next moment Malfoy replied:

"Oh, really…you think so, do you?" Malfoy exclaimed slightly mockingly before pushing the still weeping girl of his lap to fall to the ground painfully before standing up.

Lily took a step back hastily. Any thoughts she might have had to help the girl were quickly washed away and had changed towards helping herself instead.

"Who are you that you could possibly perceive to believe that you, a mere child, could have the right, much less the privilege, to even dare to tell me what to think, let alone do?" Malfoy asked, angrily looking at Lily who was really wishing she had never spoken.

"Lily Evans, sir!" she answered quietly.

She never even considered correcting him that she was in fact 17.

"Speak up, girl!" Malfoy said.

"Lily Ev..." Lily tried to say again a little louder, but faltered.

"Come here!" Malfoy added dangerously as he sat down again.

Lily gulped, not liking in the least where this was leading.

"Oh no please…I didn't mean…," she said horrified as she saw Malfoy pointing to his lap.

Somebody, she didn't really care who, shoved her out into the open and straight onto Malfoy's lap.

"You're next…," Malfoy said angrily as he pulled down her pants and raised his hand to strike her.

KABOOOOM!!

At the direct same moment Malfoy's paddle struck Lily's posterior, forcing her to emit a loud squeal from the pain, the whole hall was illuminated in an incredibly bright flash of light only to be followed a second later by an incredibly loud supersonic bang.

Everybody was forced to grab and hold their heads and cover their ears with their hands.

Those who didn't, or didn't do it in time cried out in pain and fell to the ground clutching their heads as if to tear their pain away.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!!!" an angry voice roared out before Malfoy suddenly felt a sharp pain before everything went black he knew no more.

* * *

**_#Several days later_**

Mathilda Bagnold, still, at least for now, the current Minister of Magic looked out at a currently assembled angry crowd.

She was feeling horrible.

_How could things have gone so out of control,_ she asked her self again as she gingerly nursed a bruise on her forehead, courtesy of a rotten apple which had hit here there earlier that day.

It was a thought which she realized was becoming quite old.

She was still reeling from what had happened during the past few days and was still trying to come to grips with what the outcome of this absolute disaster would mean for her.

Nothing good, to say the least.

Just a few days ago she was the most powerful person in the wizarding isles, working towards her re-election…now, however…

Now, she only felt like crying.

As it was, most of the public were crying bloody murder and calling for her immediate resignation.

The few thousands or so Howlers alone had been bad enough, but when the public started to throw rotten fruit at her, in the middle of Diagon Alley, well, that had broken the Hippogriff's back.

The few friends she had had at that point had all but turned traitor and had even picked up some fruit themselves.

She still couldn't believe how it had come to that. The public had even been in the process of publically hanging Malfoy, her closest advisor, before the dratted brat had stopped it herself.

With a sigh she opened her mouth and started to address the assembled crowd for what she was sure would be her last time.

"Fellow wizards and witches…"

An angry mummer reached her ears and she gulped.

"…We have all assembled here today for three reasons…"

She said the word three with a sob.

"One, a cause to celebrate, the others… causes to weep."

"Please bear with me as I announce first one bad, then the good….and finally…" she paused again with a grimace and another quiet sob, "…the other …other bad."

Again an angry murmur rose from the crowd at her words and from the corner of her eyes, to her dismay, she saw a few holding and handing out more rotten fruit.

With a grimace she steeled herself for what was yet to come and continued to speak.

"Due to the sad and disturbing circumstances which have struck the school only a few days before…."

From the crowds a seventeen year old young woman, named Sarah Adeline Evans, tried to block out the Minister's words as she tried to remember what had happened only a few days before…months from her perspective.

Beside her a young man, also seventeen years old, named James Tiberius White was holding her hand, giving her the strength she needed, a look of love and adoration in his eyes whenever he glanced at the girl beside him.

While around them a grim crowd of students - dressed completely in a formal Purple uniform each armed to the teeth, with two wands, each in a separate wand holster, a shiny sword at their sides and a Muggle pistol in another holster at their other side – though that was only for show- were keeping a close guardian eye on the couple.

Trying her best to look undisturbed, but failing, the Minister continued to speak:

"The death of a very prominent student is never an easy time…"

* * *

_Coming soon: **'Lockdown'**; What actually happened...  
_


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